In the upcoming sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, Earth has had 20 years to prepare for the return of the aliens, but it almost happened much sooner. Although the events of the coming sequel in many ways appear to build directly off of the events of 1996's Independence Day, early drafts of the movie didn't at all. Roland Emmerich has toyed with numerous ideas for an Independence Day 2 over the years, and some of them are downright strange. He recently divulged one of those ideas, and it has us scratching our heads to say the least.
During a recent interview with Empire, Roland Emmerich explained that an original draft for Independence Day: Resurgence was a much more pensive and peace-oriented project. He explained:
It was after 9/11 and Dean [Devlin] and I wanted to make the movie about peace, and it just didn't work. ... We shoot aliens down accidentally and then, at the end of the movie, they land on the White House lawn and say 'we come in peace' and that was it. It was just too weak an idea and we didn't really want to do it. [It] didn't have an Independence Day feel. Only the alien ship was destroyed!
While we have to admit that this idea is objectively an interesting premise for a movie, it most certainly doesn't feel like a natural progression from the original Independence Day. Apparently this version of Independence Day 2 would have involved the accidental downing of an alien aircraft, and that accident would have led to the aliens claiming to be on Earth in search of peace. No big battle and no cigar-chomping Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum.
This pitch makes sense for the time we lived in when it came around. After 9/11, many people wanted to feel safe and secure in this country. The original Independence Day literally revolved around a global conflict, and this proposed sequel would have jarringly taken the franchise to a place where audiences believe that interspecies peace is truly possible. Perhaps someday a movie like that will get made (I know I would pay to see it) but for now, we will have to stick to the action-heavy chaos of the coming sequel.
Just take a look at the trailer for Independence Day: Resurgence below and you can clearly see that Roland Emmerich most certainly decided to deviate from that original idea:
Do you think Roland Emmerich made the right call or should he have gone with his original pitch? Let us know in the comments section below! We here at Cinema Blend will keep you up to date with all of the latest and greatest Independence Day: Resurgence news as it becomes available to us. The sci-fi sequel will hit theaters on June 24.
