Director Roland Emmerich predicted that it could happen and today it has become official: while 20th Century Fox originally had the upcoming Independence Day 2 dated for July 3, 2015, today the studio has opted to push the project back a full year. Box Office Mojo reports that the long awaited sequel is now scheduled to come out on July 1, 2016.
Those who have been paying attention to shifts in the release calendar probably predicted this move a long time ago. Not only did Emmerich openly say two months ago that the 2015 release date was temporary, but around that exact same time Paramount Pictures moved the date of their upcoming Terminator reboot to the same weekend - a very aggressive move that may have forced Fox's hand. Summer 2015 is already overloaded with blockbusters like Joss Whedon's The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Zack Snyder's Batman vs. Superman, Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World, Edgar Wright's Ant-Man, Seth MacFarlane's Ted 2, and - most recently added - Josh Trank's Fantastic 4, so perhaps it's for the best that Independence Day 2 is moving away.
In all honestly, the new release date even works better with the film's premise. It's been reported that the story in the sequel is going to be set 20 years after the events in the first movie, and seeing as Independence Day came out in 1996 only now does the math actually add up. What remains a major question is who the star of the film will be. While promoting White House Down's Blu-ray release late last month Emmerich revealed that Fox is developing two different versions of the same script: one that would have Will Smith return to reprise his legendary role as Captain Steven Hiller and the other focusing on another character. James Vanderbilt, who worked with the director on White House Down, wrote both versions of the screenplay.
As of now the only other film currently scheduled to be released on July 1, 2016 - which also happens to be Independence Day weekend - is Sony's adaptation of the popular mobile game Angry Birds. At this point in time, however, because the date is so far away who knows what the release date calendar will look like by the time it actually rolls around.
Are you upset that you're going to have to wait a little while longer for Independence Day 2, or are you willing to wait and make sure that they get the project 100% right before heading into production? Do you even want to see a sequel to the '90s classic? Let us know what you're thinking about this big move in the comments section and watch the trailer below to relive some awesome memories.
