Independence Day (also known as ID and ID4) is a franchise of American science fiction action films that started with Independence Day in 1996, which was followed by the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016. The franchise revolves around extraterrestrials invading Earth and seeking to eradicate mankind while the remaining human resistance uses everything at their disposal to defeat the invaders and take back the planet. Now considered to be a significant turning point in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster, the original film was released worldwide on July 3, 1996, but began showing on July 2 (the same day the film's story begins) on limited release as a result of a high level of anticipation among moviegoers. The film grossed over $817.4 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1996 and, briefly, the second-highest-grossing film worldwide of all time behind 1993's Jurassic Park. Currently, it ranks 69th on the list of highest-grossing films, and was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and sci-fi resurgence of the mid-late 1990s. The film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing.
Films Independence Day (1996)
The film focuses on disparate groups of people who converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a worldwide attack by an extraterrestrial race of unknown origin. With the other people of the world, they launch a last-ditch counterattack on July 4—Independence Day in the United States.
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
The film takes place twenty years after the events of the first film, during which the United Nations has collaborated to form Earth Space Defense (ESD), an international military defense and research organization. Through reverse engineering, the world has harnessed the power of alien technology and laid the groundwork to resist a second invasion.
Future In May 2015, Deadline reported that Independence Day 3 and Independence Day 4 were being planned. In June 2016, during an interview with Empire magazine, Emmerich stated that a third film could be made, depending on the success of the second one. He also said that audiences would not have to wait as long as they did for the second in the series. According to Emmerich, the third film will depict an intergalactic journey, possibly set a year or two later since he wants to maintain the same group of people, especially the young characters. In October 2016, Emmerich spoke with Comingsoon.net and mentioned that potential sequels could be produced as TV-films, though they were still uncertain about how they would move forward with the sequels.
In March 2018, LRM Online reported that, after having met producer Dean Devlin at WonderCon and asking about the status of Independence Day 3, Devlin told them "I don’t know. I don’t know. Currently, I personally have no plans on doing another one." Following this, Ryan Scott at MovieWeb translated the poor reception of the second film and Devlin's comments as meaning Independence Day 3 will likely not happen, also noting that 20th Century Fox merging with The Walt Disney Company (meaning Disney will be in control of Fox's franchises) would make it even less likely that a third film would be pursued.
Cast and characters Character Films Independence Day Resurgence 1996 2016 Captain Steven Hiller Will Smith President Thomas J. Whitmore Bill Pullman David Levinson Jeff Goldblum Marine Captain Jimmy Wilder Harry Connick Jr. First Lady Marilyn Whitmore Mary McDonnell Julius Levinson Judd Hirsch Constance Spano Margaret Colin Russell Casse Randy Quaid General William Grey Robert Loggia Albert Nimzicki James Rebhorn Marty Gilbert Harvey Fierstein Major Mitchell Adam Baldwin Dr. Brackish Okun Brent Spiner Miguel Casse James Duval Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller Vivica A. Fox Alicia Casse Lisa Jakub Dylan Dubrow-Hiller Ross Bagley Jessie T. Usher Patricia Whitmore Mae Whitman Maika Monroe Lt. Col. Watson Bill Smitrovich Tiffany Kiersten Warren Troy Casse Giuseppe Andrews Milton Isaacs John Storey Jake Morrison Liam Hemsworth Charlie Miller Travis Tope President/General Joshua T. Adams William Fichtner Dr. Catherine Marceaux Charlotte Gainsbourg President Elizabeth Lanford Sela Ward Rain Lao Angelababy Samantha Blackwell Joey King Floyd Rosenberg Nicolas Wright Dikembe Umbutu DeObia Wright Jiang Lao Chin Han Reese Tanner Patrick St. Esprit Agent Matthew Travis Gbenga Akinnagbe Bobby Blackwell Garrett Wareing Felix Blackwell Hays Wellford Daisy Blackwell Mckenna Grace Captain McQuade Robert Neary
Crew Role Film Independence Day Independence Day: Resurgence 1996 2016 Director Roland Emmerich Writer(s) Dean DevlinRoland Emmerich Nicolas WrightJames A. WoodsDean DevlinRoland EmmerichJames VanderbiltDean DevlinRoland EmmerichNicolas WrightJames A. Woods Producer(s) Dean Devlin Dean DevlinHarald KloserRoland Emmerich Composer David Arnold Thomas WanderHarald Kloser Cinematographer Karl Walter Lindenlaub Markus Förderer Editor David Brenner Adam Wolfe Production companies Centropolis Entertainment Centropolis EntertainmentElectric Entertainment Distributor 20th Century Fox
Reception Box office performance Film Release date Box Office Gross Budget References Domestic Foreign Worldwide Independence Day July 3, 1996 $306,169,268 $511,231,623 $817,400,891 $75 million Independence Day: Resurgence June 24, 2016 $103,144,286 $286,537,649 $389,681,935 $165 million Total $409,313,554 $797,769,272 $1,207,082,826 $240 million
Critical response Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore Independence Day 67% (79 reviews) 59 (19 critics) A Independence Day: Resurgence 29% (232 reviews) 32 (40 critics) B
Publications The franchise has been the inspiration for a series of novels and comic books.
Novels The first three novels were originally published in the 1990s based on the 1996 release of the first film, and were republished in March 2016 as a single-volume edition (The Complete Independence Day Omnibus).The Complete Independence Day Omnibus. Amazon. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
Independence Day (1996) The first book in the series is the novelization of the first film. Author Stephen Molstad wrote the novel to help promote the film shortly before its release. The novel goes into further detail on the characters, situations, and overall concepts not explored in the film. The novel presents the film's finale as originally scripted, with the character played by Randy Quaid stealing a missile and roping it to his cropduster biplane.
Independence Day: Silent Zone (1998) Following the film's success, a prequel novel entitled Independence Day: Silent Zone was written by Molstad in February 1998."Independence Day: Silent Zone Product Details." Amazon.com. Retrieved October 8, 2007. The novel is set in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and details the early career of Dr. Brackish Okun."Independence Day: Silent Zone by Stephen Molstad Publisher's Notes." Biblio.com. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
Independence Day: War in the Desert (1999) Molstad wrote a third novel, Independence Day: War in the Desert in July 1999. Set in Saudi Arabia on July 3, it centers around Captain Cummins and Colonel Thompson (ranks corrected to Squadron Leader and Group Captain respectively in the Omnibus reissue), the two Royal Air Force officers seen receiving the Morse code message in the film.
Independence Day: Crucible (2016) Independence Day: Crucible is the fourth book in the series, published in May 2016 bridging the events of Independence Day and its sequel.Independence Day: Crucible (The Official Prequel). Amazon. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
The novel focuses on the back story to Resurgence over a period of 20 years after the "War of 1996" and introduces new characters such as orphan Jake Morrison and tribe leader Dikembe Umbutu, whose ground battle in Africa reveals that aliens managed to land the only surviving city destroyer somewhere in the Congo during the initial attack. It also explains the after-effects of humans whose minds were hijacked by the aliens during the invasion, including Umbutu and President Whitmore. It also follows David Levinson's ascent to the head of the Earth Space Defense (ESD), Steve Hiller's son Dylan and his friendship with Jake and Patricia Whitmore, and Steve's untimely death caused by an accident while testing aircraft with alien technology designed by the ESD.
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) Independence Day: Resurgence is the novelization of the film of the same name written by Alex Irvine, and the fifth book in the series. It was published on June 21, 2016, three days before the release of the second film on June 24, 2016.Independence Day: Resurgence: The Official Movie Novelization. Amazon. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
The novelization includes many scenes from the original screenplay that were removed from the final theatrical release, including an alternate opening scene which features the wormhole causing the destruction of a moon base on Rhea, and some other scenes presented in a different order.
Comics
Independence Day (Marvel Comics) (1996) A comic book series by Marvel Comics (issue #0, issue #0 variant, issue #1, issue #2, and issue #1 trade paperback) was also produced and based on the first two novelizations.
Independence Day: Dark Fathom (2016) A comic book series by Titan Comics titled Independence Day: Dark Fathom was produced to promote and lead up to the events of the second film. It was sold with the option to print custom comic stores on the cover being blown up by the alien spaceships.
Other
Independence Day: The Official Collector's Magazine (1996) Independence Day: The Official Collector's Magazine is a 68-page magazine by MVP Licensing, Inc. The magazine contains exclusive interviews, production information, and behind-the-scenes features, complete with color photos. The magazine is divided into 5 main sections, focusing on different aspects of the film production.
The Art and Making of Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) The Art and Making of Independence Day: Resurgence is an art book based on the making of the titular film.
Plays Independence Day UK (1996)
On August 4, 1996, BBC Radio 1 broadcast the one-hour play Independence Day UK, written, produced, and directed by Dirk Maggs, a spin-off depicting the alien invasion from a British perspective."Independence Day UK." dswilliams.co.uk. Retrieved September 25, 2007. None of the original cast was present. Dean Devlin gave Maggs permission to produce an original version, on the condition that he did not reveal certain details of the movie's plot, and that the British were not depicted as saving the day. Independence Day UK was set up to be similar to the 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds—the first 20 minutes were presented as if live.
Video games Various video games based upon the franchise have been produced all the way back from 1996 and up until 2016.
ID4 Interactive Kit - Jet Strike - Hollywood Online (1996) Produced / Distributed by Hollywood Online and 20th Century Fox, an 8-bit game called 'Jet Strike' was included along with other promotional features like film notes, glossary, production and a film clip. There were both PC and Mac versions. The Jet Strike 8-bit game involved flying a single fighter jet against incoming alien attackers in a side scrolling format. It ended with an attack against a city destroyer where the player has a single chance to fire a missile at the opportune time to win. At the time of publishing it is still accessible through the Internet Archive's Software Collection via DOSBox / Windows 3.x emulation.
ID4.COM Shockwave Mini Games (1996)