Given the way it annihilated the box office back in 1996, it's always seemed inevitable that a sequel to Independence Day might roll along sooner or later, and according to producer Dean Devlin, we might not have to wait to much longer for it to arrive.
"I hope so," says Devlin of the possibility of a sequel. "I can't say that it's going to happen, but I can say for the first time that for the first time in eleven years, Roland Emmerich and I are working together."
"There are a lot of moving pieces that are coming together," he continues. "I don't know if it will come together, but we want it to happen. This is the first time since we made the original that Roland and I are excited about doing it and feeling like we have the right idea and we have our fingers crossed."
An Independence Day sequel has long been rumoured, but according to Devlin, he and Emmerich have only now come up with an idea that could do justice to the original film.
"Over the years everyone has always asked us about it," he says. "We never wanted to do it unless it felt germane to the story. In fact, 10 years ago I was hired to write a sequel to Independence Day and they paid me a lot of money. After I finished the script, I gave the money back and I said, 'Don't even read the script. The script is okay, but we can't make an okay sequel to Independence Day . The fans deserve better than this.'"
"And I really decided then that I was never going to do a sequel. Until about a year and a half ago when Roland called me up and said, 'Let's try again.' So we went out to Palm Springs and we cracked it. We said, 'That's a real sequel. That's a sequel that makes sense to do. That's a sequel that won't disappoint the fans. That one feels like we always intended to do that in the first place.' So I want it to happen. I don't know if it will."
In the meantime, the original Independence Day has been pencilled in for a 3D reissue, with the film opening in the US on 3 July 2013 and a UK date to be confirmed.
