Independence Day 2 is a project that doesn’t exist, but it’s almost existed for quite a few years now.  Director Roland Emmerich and star Will Smith have talked about the various stages of development on the sci-fi follow-up over the years, but as of yet nothing tangible has come to fruition.  Last we heard, Fox was planning back-to-back sequels with or without Smith’s involvement, and now producer Dean Devlin has announced that he and Emmerich are actively working on Independence Day 2.  Moreover, they’re also hoping to continue and ultimately finish the story they began with the 1994 sci-fi film Stargate with two new sequels.  Hit the jump for more.

Via Heat Vision, Devlin confirmed that he and Emmerich are committed to trying to get Independence Day 2 off the ground, but he’s not making any firm promises:

"I can tell you that Roland and I have been working together for the first time in 11 years and we’re every excited about the idea of doing it.  Whether or not we can make this happen, if we can get all the pieces to come together, that’s gonna be challenging. But creatively, for the very first time since we did the original, I feel we have a worthy concept, a worthy path to go.”

1996’s Independence Day was a bona fide blockbuster that solidified Smith’s status as a movie star.  It’s not Shakespeare by any means, but it’s the kind of crowd-pleasing, over-the-top actioner that Emmerich does best.  So what’s been the hold up on the sequel?  Well the artistic integrity of the first film, of course:

"We resisted doing the sequel for years because we still wanted to honor the first one. The first one gave us all careers, and we really love that movie and loved the experience. We didn’t want to make a movie because it was financially a good idea, we only wanted to do it when we had an idea and a concept that creatively felt like it honored the first one -- that it felt like an organic sequel as opposed to ‘let’s just go make some more money.”

Devlin confirmed that they’re “beginning a long process of talking to everybody,” so it remains to be seen which (if any) cast members return.  I’d say all you really need is Jeff Goldblum back and my ticket is sold.  Though the two haven’t collaborated since 2000’s The Patriot, Devlin and Emmerich’s working relationship harkens back to 1994’s Stargate.  Devlin added that the two had initially planned a trio of Stargate films, and they’re keen on continuing that story at some point:

"Stargate has always had this empty hole. When we made the first one, we always intended on doing part two and three, and we were prevented for years. And our hope is that we can get another chance at Stargate and tell the entire story we wanted to tell."

Whether either of these two projects ever come to fruition remains to be seen, but I’d be interested to see how audiences respond to Independence Day 2.  Those kinds of goofy, cynicism-free tentpoles are few and far between these days, and Emmerich sure knows spectacle. Fox has already set a 3D re-release of the original Independence Day for next, uh, Independence Day, so if the reissue does big business you can bet the studio will do everything they can to get the ball rolling quickly on a sequel.