Independence Day: Resurgence is a 2016 American science fiction action film co-written, directed, and produced by Roland Emmerich and co-written and co-produced by Dean Devlin, serving as a standalone sequel to Independence Day (1996). It stars an ensemble cast that consists of Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Maika Monroe, Jessie T. Usher, Travis Tope, William Fichtner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Judd Hirsch. The film takes place twenty years after the events of the first film, during which the United Nations has collaborated to form the Earth Space Defense, an international military defense and research organization. Through reverse engineering, the world has fused the power of alien technology with humanity's and laid the groundwork to resist a second invasion.
Plans for a sequel to Independence Day began as early as 2001, with 20th Century Fox eventually green-lighting the project in 2014. Principal photography began in April 2015 at locations primarily in New Mexico but also in the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah, which were featured in the original. This was one of Robert Loggia's final projects before he died, and the film is dedicated in memory of him and he is commemorated during its closing credits.
Independence Day: Resurgence was released by 20th Century Fox in the United States on June 24, 2016, twenty years after the release of Independence Day, in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D. It received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized the lack of screenplay, its plot, and lack of emotional depth but praised the visual effects. It was considered a financial disappointment, grossing $389.6 million worldwide at the box office against its $165 million budget. Following the film's release, director Emmerich openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the completed film, as he regretted making it without Will Smith's involvement as Smith was one of the central protagonists in the first film.
Plot
In the twenty years after the War of 1996, the United Nations has founded the Earth Space Defense (ESD), a global defense program using reverse-engineered alien technology and serves as Earth's defense force against extraterrestrial threats. Civilization has been restored, and relative peace among nations exists following the human race's victory over the aliens' attacks. The ESD set up bases from Area 51 to the Moon, Mars, and Rhea, and orbital defense satellites above Earth, as fortifications against future invasions.
ESD Director David Levinson meets with warlord Dikembe Umbutu and Dr. Catherine Marceaux in the African state République Nationale d'Umbutu. They travel to a landed alien saucer and discover that the aliens were drilling before sending a distress signal to their homeworld before their defeat. It is revealed that people such as former U.S. President Thomas Whitmore, Dr. Brackish Okun, and Umbutu are telepathically linked to the aliens' collective consciousness, following personal encounters, and have visions of an unidentified spherical object.
An unidentified spherical ship emerges from a wormhole near Earth's Moon. Despite objections from Levinson, the United Nations Security Council orders the ship to be destroyed. Defying orders, American pilots Jake Morrison and Charlie Miller then collect Levinson, Marceaux, Umbutu, and U.S. federal controller Floyd Rosenberg on a space tug. They head for the wreckage in the Van de Graaff crater, where they recover a large container holding a sphere. An alien mothership, over 3,000 miles in diameter, suddenly appears after responding to the distress call, and proceeds to destroy much of Earth's planetary defense systems before landing over the North Atlantic Ocean where it starts to drill down toward Earth's core for fuel that will destroy the planet in the process. Narrowly escaping death, the space tug avoids capture and returns to Area 51.
Whitmore, Levinson, and U.S. General Joshua Adams's groups interrogate one of the aliens held in captivity at Area 51's prison facility from the war. They learn that the aliens exist in a hivemind and that one of their colossal Queens is commanding the invasion. Realizing that they had killed a supervising Queen above Earth during the first invasion, Levinson hypothesizes that if they kill this one, her forces will cease drilling and go dormant. An ESD aerial fleet led by Captain Dylan Hiller stages a counterattack, but they are ambushed within the mothership, leaving only a few survivors, including Dylan, Jake, Charlie, and fellow ESD lieutenant and Chinese pilot Rain Lao.
In Area 51, Okun opens the rescued container and releases a giant white sphere containing a virtual intelligence. The sphere reveals that her mission is to evacuate survivors to a planet of refugees from other worlds targeted by the aliens, whom she calls "Harvesters", and unite them in an attack on the Harvesters' planet. In the mothership, all surviving ESD pilots manage to escape by hijacking enemy craft; Dylan, Jake, Charlie, and Rain navigate two Harvester fighters to pursue the Queen's personal ship, which is heading to Area 51 to extract information from the sphere about the refugee planet.
Knowing that the Harvester Queen has become aware of the sphere's location, the ESD hides her in an isolation chamber and uses a decoy in Jake's space tug to lure the Harvester Queen's ship into a trap. Whitmore volunteers to pilot the transport ship on a suicide mission, leading the Queen's ship into the trap before detonating a bomb, thus destroying the enemy ship by sacrificing himself. However, the Harvester Queen survives by using an energy shield of her own and another battle ensues, leading to the Harvester Queen finally being killed. Then all the remaining alien fighters are rendered inactive while the mothership stops drilling and retreats to space.
Okun reveals that the sphere has asked humanity to lead her resistance in preparation for an attack on the Harvesters' homeworld.
Cast
Liam Hemsworth as Jake Morrison, a pilot of the Earth Space Defense and Patricia Whitmore's fiancé who lost his parents when the aliens first attacked. Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson, the director of the Earth Space Defense and the United States government's leading researcher on extraterrestrial technology who played a part in defeating the aliens in the last film. Bill Pullman as President Thomas J. Whitmore, the former President of the United States who is highly revered by the country as a world-saving war hero, but the fights against the aliens have left Whitmore with post-traumatic stress disorder and permanently psychically linked to the enemy. Maika Monroe as Patricia Whitmore, the daughter of Thomas Whitmore who was inspired by her father to follow in his footsteps as a combat pilot and dedicates her military career to the memory of her mother Marilyn. She was previously portrayed by Mae Whitman in the first film. Jessie T. Usher as Dylan Hiller, the stepson of the legendary Captain Steven Hiller and captain of the Earth Space Defense. He was previously portrayed by Ross Bagley in the first film. Captain Steven Hiller was portrayed by Will Smith in the first film and was mentioned to have perished trying out one of the hybrid fighter prototypes. Travis Tope as Charlie Miller, a lieutenant in the Earth Space Defense and friend of Jake, who also lost his family when the aliens first attacked. William Fichtner as General Joshua T. Adams, the United States Air Force General and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who later succeeds President Elizabeth Lanford as the new acting President of the United States. Charlotte Gainsbourg as Dr. Catherine Marceaux, a French psychiatrist researching telepathic connections between humans and aliens, and David Levinson's romantic partner after his wife Constance died before the events of the film. Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson, a retired rabbi, David Levinson's father, and the author of the book How I Saved the World that narrates events of the first invasion from his experiences and perspectives. Brent Spiner as Dr. Brackish Okun, the director of research at Area 51. Dr. Okun had spent the past 20 years in a coma after what happened in the last film. Sela Ward as President Elizabeth Lanford, the President of the United States. She lost her family during the first invasion and this loss made her suspicious of anything coming from space. Angelababy as Rain Lao, a Chinese lieutenant in the Earth Space Defense and Dylan Hiller's second-in-command of the Legacy Squadron who also lost her parents when the aliens first attacked and was adopted by her father's younger brother Jiang Lao. Joey King as Sam Blackwell, the oldest of the Blackwell siblings who finds Julius. Vivica A. Fox as Dr. Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller, Dylan's mother and the widow of Steven Hiller. Robert Loggia as General William Grey, the retired Commander of the Space Command. Nicolas Wright as Floyd Rosenberg, a U.S. federal controller assigned to David Levinson and seeks to join the fight against the aliens with the Earth Space Defense. DeObia Oparei as Dikembe Umbutu, the Congolese warlord of the National Republic of Umbutu. Chin Han as Jiang Lao, the Chinese general and commander of the Earth Space Defense's Moon base and Rain Lao's paternal uncle and adoptive father. Patrick St. Esprit as Reese Tanner, the United States Secretary of Defense in President Lanford's cabinet. Gbenga Akinnagbe as Agent Matthew Travis, a United States Secret Service agent assigned to former President Thomas Whitmore. John Storey as Milton Isaacs. James A. Woods as Lieutenant James Ritter, a subordinate of General Joshua Adams. Mckenna Grace as Daisy Blackwell, Sam's sister. Garrett Wareing as Bobby Blackwell, Sam's brother. Hays Wellford as Felix Blackwell, Sam's brother.
Production Development
The possibility of a sequel to Independence Day (1996) had been discussed as early as 2001, and the film's producer and writer, Dean Devlin, once stated that the world's reaction to the September 11 attacks influenced him to strongly consider making a sequel to the film. Devlin began writing an outline for a script with Emmerich, but in May 2004 during the release of The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Emmerich said he and Devlin had attempted to "figure out a way how to continue the story", but that this ultimately did not work, and the pair abandoned the idea. In October 2009, Emmerich said he once again had plans for a sequel, and had since considered the idea of making two sequels to form a trilogy. On June 24, 2011, Devlin confirmed that he and Emmerich had found an idea for the sequels and had written a treatment for it. In October 2011, however, discussions for Will Smith returning were halted, due to Fox's refusal to provide the $50 million salary demanded by Smith for the two sequels. Emmerich, however, made assurances that the films would be shot back-to-back, regardless of Smith's involvement. In July 2012, Devlin reiterated that the Independence Day sequel was still in development, and the script would take place in 2012, 16 years after the original film's events.