Independence Day was Roland Emmerichs masterpiece. A classic piece of genre-cinema or, rather sub-genre cinema, he perfectly grasped the essence of the alien invasion film that was so popular in 1950s America and, while it had its narrative roots in HG Welles War of the Worlds, was largely fuelled by the litany of UFO reports that beset North America following a sighting by pilot Kenneth Arnold in 1947. The film was a resounding commercial success and provided an astonishing spring-board into super-stardom for one Will Smith. As a consequence, there was considerable excitement when Emmerich suggested in 2009 that a second, perhaps even a third Independence Day movie may be on the way. When asked about the project by Empire recently, however, Emmerich dismissed the notion that the film will see the light of day any time soon:
Its back and forth, back and forth. Theres no script because I dont want to write anything before anything starts.
Previous internet spread rumour concerning plot and characters appear, therefore, to be no more than speculation. Other rumours concerning ongoing negotiations for a return for the now infinitely more expensive Smith seem far closer to the mark though, given the stunning business the first film did, and a new found spate of alien based films like Battle: Los Angeles, Emmerich is determined that the sequel will definitely happen some day. In the meantime, the German director who has enjoyed himself by reeking catastrophic CGI destruction across planet earth ever since Independence Day, has departed from his usual themes to tackle a historical political thriller. His new film, Anonymous, stars no lesser acting talents than Vanessa Redgrave and Rhys Ifans, and concerns the true authorship of William Shakespeare's plays and the plotting that went into deciding the succession of Elizabeth I. He is likely to be back in more familiar CGI laden territory of science-fiction soon, however, with the oft-mooted trilogy of 3D films based on Isaac Asimovs Foundation. He says of the movie;
Weve hired a production designer and its mainly now to find out what the movie will cost. Itll take us until the end of March, then well decide. The studios happy with the script, but nows the time that the numbers count. I want to make a movie thats very different from other science-fiction movies and I dont want to have the burden of too big a budget.
It appears, therefore, even if Independence Day 2 is inevitable, it is far from imminent.