Dean-Devlin-Independence Day-2-sequel-interview-sliceOver the past few years, we've written again and again about a possible Independence Day sequel.  While I never thought a sequel would happen due to the amount of time that's passed, with Fox doing a 3D re-release next summer of the original film, I'm beginning to think it could happen.  After all, the re-release is a great way to get people excited for a sequel.So when I got to speak with producer Dean Devlin on the red carpet at tonight's Saturn Awards, I asked him the status of the ID42 (Independence Day 2).  He said:

"I can tell you that Roland Emmerich and I are working together for the first time in eleven years and we are working really hard to try and make this happen."

More after the jump.

independence-day-movie-poster

He went on to tell me:

"I think that the story that we finally cracked is finally worthy of a sequel. And I think that the people who have been fans will feel like they got the movie they were waiting for."

He also said that the script would use the time between the movies as a plot point.

And for Stargate fans, Devlin talked about their desire to make Stargate sequels.  If you didn't know, the film was the first in a planned trilogy.

Here's the full interview broken down by time.  This was you can watch the parts that interest you.  Look for a lot more video interviews all weekend.

Dean Devlin Time Index:

  • 00:00 - 00:48 - What is the best part of The Saturn Awards?
  • 00:48 - 1:38 - Sci-Fi is suddenly everywhere, why?
  • 1:38 - 2:20 - Independence Day sequel news.

"I can tell you that Roland Emmerich and I are working together for the first time in eleven years and we are working really hard to try and make this happen. I don't know if we're gonna pull it off. I don't know if it is going to happen. But I can tell you that we're spending a lot of effort, that we're writing together for the first time in eleven years. And we want to make it happen."

independence-day
Image via 20th Century Fox

2:20 - 3:10 - The President's speech from Independence Day's life as a meme and new enthusiasm for an Independence Day sequel.

"I think that the story that we finally cracked is finally worthy of a sequel. And I think that the people who have been fans will feel like they got the movie they were waiting for."

  • 3:10 - 3:35 - Leverage talk, directing the 77th episode.
  • 3:35 - 5:25 - Why the planned Stargate sequels never materialized and why they might get made now with the newly solvent MGM.
  • 5:25 - 6:42 - On writing a sequel to Independence Day and then giving the studio back all the money because it wasn't good enough.

"Many years ago, I was actually hired to write the sequel to Independence Day. And I wrote a sequel. And they paid me a boatload of money to go write this thing. And after I wrote it, I read it and I gave them back the money and I said, 'look, this is an okay movie I just wrote. But it's not worthy of the sequel to Independence Day.' And I literally gave back the money. And afterwards I said, 'You know what? I'm not even going to try anymore.' And it was only about a year-and-a-half ago that Roland called me up and said, 'We should try again.'"

  • 6:42 - 7:05 - Does Will Smith return in the script?
  • 7:05 - 7:32 - Does the film account for the 16+ years between films?