The sequel to Independence Day, titled ID Forever Part I, has now been pushed back a year to July 1st, 2016, according to Entertainment Weekly. The new release date falls just two days shy of the original movies 20th anniversary.
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The movie will take place, fittingly, two decades after the conclusion of the first one, when alien reinforcements show up in response to a distress call sent out beforeWill Smith and Jeff Goldblum finished defeating the original invaders.The new story will follow a character played by Ross Bagley, who will portray the stepson of Will Smiths character. Smith has not signed onto the project since director Roland Emmerich told the New York Daily News that the actor is too expensive. Goldblum and Bill Pullman, who played the president of the United States, are reportedly set to return.
Emmerich, who directed the original, has signed on to helm both halves of the two-part sequel. Earlier this year, heexplained to EWwhy the aliens are returning so many years after the original. The humans knew that one day the aliens would come back. And they know that the only way you can really travel in space is through wormholes. So for the aliens, it could take two or three weeks, but for us thats 20 or 25 years, he said. Emmerich also said by the time the new movie takes place, humans have been studying the aliens technology.While they cant duplicate it, because its organic, they know how to, say, put an antigravity device in an airplane. The first part will conclude on a little success, at least enough to give the humans hope, building up to a final battle with the aliens in the second installment.
Although the original didnt make Peter Travers list of the 10 Best Movies of 1996, the special-effects-driven blockbuster did rake in more than $300 million in its domestic release and close to a billion dollars worldwide. EWs report did not specify whether money or some other factor prompted the change in release date.