'Independence Day' Sequel Ready, But Delayed

Though no one asked for a sequel to Independence Day (because didn't Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum use a computer virus to rid us of those damn aliens the last time?), that's not stopping special effects superhero Roland Emmerich from wanting to churn one out for the hell of it. Only problem is ... it's going to take a lot more than an arm and a leg to get Will Smith back in an alien fighting mood.

While speaking to Emmerich about 2012, Latino Review learned that there's a script and a story for Independence Day 2, but right now 20th Century Fox is delaying it because they can't come to terms with Emmerich, writer-producer Dean Devlin and Will Smith -- all of whom want to make sure they're paid, like, a trillion dollars for this thing. According to Emmerich, Fox wanted them to make the sequel without Will Smith, but the writer-director insists he star in it. "I said Will is essential for us, for this movie and actually for the audience too. And, so, it's in limbo and lately the studios are fighting. Like gross players, and Will is a gross player and is probably the only gross player right now who's worth his gross. So we'll see what happens. I would love to do it," Emmerich noted.

Unfortunately for those who feel like a good laugh today, Emmerich did not divulge any story details except to say that it's "a very really good great story, a very cool one." I'm not even going to begin to ask you to understand that quote because it makes as much sense as the ending for Independence Day did. Seriously? A f**king computer virus? How will they destroy the aliens this time around -- by un-friending them on Facebook?




This sort of story worked for the mid-90s, but what could you even do with an Independence Day sequel today? Do you call it Independence Day 2, or do you pick some other holiday like Memorial Day or Labor Day? And if you do choose Labor Day, do you get another C-list actor like Bill Pullman to make some long ridiculous speech about how Labor Day is awesome? And about those aliens -- do they attack the entire world again ... only this time with more muscle? Maybe some more hand-to-hand combat?

What do you think? How could they possibly make a sequel to Independence Day that actually makes sense?