10 Things You Didn’t Know About Independence Day

By Rob Leane / July 4, 2019

Back in 1996, Roland Emmerich's Independence Day made more than $800 million at the global box office, becoming a cultural phenomenon and even today holds up as one of the more re-watchable blockbusters of the 90s with no shortage of stellar special effects, likeable performances, and impressive action scenes.

On top of the solid entertainment in the finished product, the behind-the-scenes story of Independence Day was an engaging one as well. There was confusion on set, fallings out, and a lot of other odd little happenings.

Let's take a look at all the weird facts from Independence Day's barmy road to getting made..

10. The Military Got P***ed Off By The Script

Everything seemed to going pretty well to start with for Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, who wrote Independence Day's initial script draft in just four weeks. Their idea was so hotly received in Hollywood that the screenwriting duo were fielding offers from major studios the very next day after sending the treatment around town. They opted to go with the proven blockbuster-makers at 20th Century Fox, and the film was in pre-production in under a week.

Early on, the US military agreed to support Fox, Emmerich, and Devlin. This was very handy, given the fact the President, his closest allies, and heaps of military personnel were present as characters in the script. The military were happy to let Fox shoot at their real-life locations, use their uniforms, and presumably would have offered advice at various stages of the production as well.

But then, the military were given a copy of the script and quickly turned against the project, retracting their offer of support. Their problem was with the abundance of Area 51 references in the screenplay, which painted the US government in a somewhat negative light, not least because the fictional politicians of the film kept both the President and the American public in the dark regarding important extra-terrestrial matters.