BACK TO BACK ID4 SEQUELS - WILL SMITH LOCKED?

[JumpinJack AJ]

I was going back thru' my old Facebook messages and doing some deleting and realized that someone sent me this article back in March. I'm not sure if it's been posted yet. I really hope this doesn't happen. I just can't imagine any good coming of this.

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Back-to-Back Independence Day Sequels, Will Smith Locked?

March 29, 2010
Source: IESB
by Alex Billington
Independence Day

Remember in November when we reported that there wasn't just one, but supposedly two, Independence Day sequels in the works? Well, apparently that's true. IESB has a big update from one of their sources who claims that 20th Century Fox has those two Independence Day sequels aiming shoot back-to-back with Will Smith. One of the big snags holding this sequel back over the last fourteen years has been that Will Smith wants more and more money. Word is he will now get $20 million up front as well as part of the gross to star in this, mainly because Fox is now floating in all kinds of cash thanks to Avatar's mega (financial) success.

Apparently they're using that "extra" Avatar cash to put some big new franchises in the works, including Independence Day 2 and 3. According to IESB, who is still only reporting all of this as a rumor, Will Smith is "now locked" for both movies, which could start shooting as early as 2011. This might also be Roland Emmerich's next feature after he finishes his William Shakespeare film Anonymous, therefore also delaying the Foundation Trilogy even more. Smith will also have time to still shoot Men in Black 3 (or The City That Sailed) before the sequels, so it could line-up nicely in his schedule. Fox must have some very grand ideas!

Again, since this isn't confirmed, I'm not going to go around hooting and hollering about finally getting an Independence Day sequel (two of them!), but I am going to say I'm pretty excited for this to happen. After seeing Roland Emmerich destroy the world so many times recently, I'm glad to see him getting back to his "roots" (so to say) and deliver a sequel to one of my favorite Emmerich movies ever, not to mention one of my favorite Will Smith movies ever. Plus, I can only imagine where they'll be taking the story this time and how they'll up the ante. It'll be very tough to top the original, but I'm looking forward to seeing them try!

Update: I have no clue whether to believe this or not, but Gossip Cop (ugh) says that they contacted one of Will Smith's reps who apparently told them that all of this is "not true at this time." To me that sounds like they're just denying it temporarily for the time being (and it is true), plus I don't trust a gossip site over our fellow movie blog brethren. Just wanted to let you know this "update" claiming it's false is out there, at least.

[Ale]

'Independence Day' Sequels: Plot Details And Bill Pullman's 'Beautiful' Opinion

VIDEO!

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/09/30/independence-day-sequels-plot-details-bill-pullman-roland-emmerich/

[JumpinJack AJ]

Ugh. Don't makes these sequels...don't make these sequels.

[Ale]

Exclusive: Roland Emmerich On ID2 Sequel

Roland Emmerich’s next movie may take him back to his sci-fi roots, but the good people of Paris, New York and Washington can emerge from their shelters: it’s not going to be Independence Day 2. Despite last year’s rumours linking Will Smith with a reprise of the MacBook-wielding pilot Captain Hiller, the director has kiboshed thoughts that those aliens would be back soon. “Independence Day 2 is nowhere,” Emmerich told Empire, dismissing plot rumours that have been flying around the web. “It’s back and forth, back and forth. There’s no script because I don’t want to write anything before anything starts.”

If finding an Earth-saving sized gap in Smith’s diary is proving a stumbling block, Independence Day fans shouldn’t give up hope. With $800m in takings for the first movie, the sequel potential seems too ginormous for Fox to sniff at. In Emmerich’s words, “One day it will happen.” Back to your shelters, folks.

Source: http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=30163

[Ale]

Roland Emmerich: Will Smith may return in possible ‘Independence Day’ sequel

A sequel to "Independence Day" might be one small step closer to reality.

Roland Emmerich spoke to The Lantern on Monday, and said a script for a sequel to the 1996 blockbuster, which he directed, is being written and attempts to round up members of the original cast are being made.

Emmerich said he's trying to get the cast of the first film on board with the sequel, including Will Smith.

"We've talked to him, but naturally he wants to see a script, which I totally understand," Emmerich said.

Emmerich did not have an immediate time frame for when the script would be completed or when production would begin.

"I'd say hold tight," he said. "It's happening soon."

Emmerich and co-writer Dean Devlin, who also wrote the original film, originally planned to revisit "Independence Day" after seeing reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. However, plans were scrapped until 2009, when Emmerich told latinoreview.com that he had a good story off of which to go.

On June 24, 2011, Devlin told collider.net that there was a concept in place for a sequel and two sequels are a possibility.

Requests for comment from Smith's publicist and 20th Century Fox, the studio that owns the rights to the original film, were not immediately returned.

"Independence Day" originally hit theaters July 2, 1996. The film stars Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman, who team up in an attempt to save the planet from an alien invasion. The film made more than $816 million in worldwide box office.

http://www.thelantern.com/a-e/roland-emmerich-will-smith-may-return-in-possible-independence-day-sequel-1.2663365#.TqgTqnJLOAg

Edited October 26, 2011 by Ale

[MaxFly]

Yes! It's still alive. A man can dream...

[JumpinJack AJ]

No, No. NOOOOO!!!!! This is a bad idea. Period. It was a bad idea in 1996 and it's a bad idea in 2011. He wants to see a script because he has said there's a "zero change" he would do a sequel (and for all the right reasons). He's merely humoring the idea but there is no reason for the movie to have a sequel. Keep in mind that FP hasn't pumped out a classic movie since Hitch and doing a sure-to-critically-suck unnecessary sequel is NOT the way to go. We are still hoping MIIIB was properly done at this point.

[Ale]

Fox Planning Back-to-Back Independence Day Sequels, With or Without a Pricey Will Smith

After fifteen years of movie destruction, director Roland Emmerich and his old producing and screenwriting partner Dean Devlin are now putting the finishing touches on back-to-back sequel scripts to 1996's Independence Day, the $800 million worldwide hit that first taught them the importance of blowing major landmarks to hell. But whether Will Smith will be back to to welcome more aliens to Earth as Captain Stephen Hiller is still a question mark: Fox started working on structuring a deal to sign him back in early 2009, but the world's last bankable action star was seeking $50 million to shoot both ID2 and ID3 back-to-back, and Fox balked at so large a price tag in combination with Emmerich’s own hefty salary demands to direct. “The delay wasn’t about whether they both wanted to make the movie,” explains one insider, “It had more to do with ‘Whose dick is bigger?’" Nothing has been yet settled, because almost a year ago all concerned parties elected to retreat and focus instead on first getting the scripts right; they're expected to be delivered to Fox by early to mid-December of this year at the latest. Insiders tell us that Fox is willing to make the movies without Smith, if necessary, but he is what helps make the films a sure thing: Can the stuck-in-neutral movie business, let alone Fox, afford to lose him?

Little is known about the two ID sequels, other than that they will tell a single story, but will be engineered more in the Back to the Future Parts 2 and 3 sequential-but-not-imperative model than like the last two Harry Potters, which was essentially one movie split in two. As our insider puts it, “They’re intended to be fulfilling movies onto themselves — you could see each separately and enjoy them — but they tell one big story.” The fact that they will be shot back-to-back is especially appealing to Smith, who's sought to spend more time with his family in recent years.

Fox is wary of the kind of hard-line, high-priced negotiations that Smith engaged in with Sony in 2002 before committing to Men in Black II, a film that ended up being a payday in search of a movie. And clearly Men in Black III looms large in their minds; its pricey shoot dragged on after script problems quickly became production problems. But on the other hand, with box office stagnating, Hollywood desperately needs Smith, its only remaining take-it-to-the-bank action star, back making blockbusters again. (His last film was 2008's weepy Seven Pounds.)

Total box office has been essentially running in place, buoyed largely by 3-D ticket price increases rather than admissions, which have been down in recent years: In 2010, total attendance was down 5.36 percent from 2009. And year to date, box-office revenue is down about 4.4 percent compared with the same point last year. This period also corresponds with Smith's extended hiatus from moviemaking; the actor has been focusing more on his family life and assisting his kids' efforts to in break into the movie business. (Smith is developing a remake of Annie for his daughter, Willow, and producing a sequel to The Karate Kid for his son, Jaden.)

Usually, Smith shoots two movies a year. But in the last three years, he’s made only one film — Men in Black III — which won’t arrive in theaters until next year. As a result, Hollywood has been shorted about five Will Smith movies in the last three years. Run the numbers, and one quickly sees just how much box office Hollywood is missing out on: From 2005 to 2008, Will Smith starred in five films, grossing, in total, a little over $2 billion worldwide. This is not to say that a few four-quadrant Smith films can jump-start the entire industry, but him getting back in the game can only help things.

While Smith hasn't committed to the ID sequels, Fox can take comfort in the fact that Smith does not have a next picture completely locked. While it’s been announced that Smith is attached (with his son, Jaden) to star in the M. Night Shyamalan film One Thousand A.E. at Sony Pictures, studio insiders tell Vulture that the studio is going extra-slow on preproduction, marking time to avoid any repeats of its hellish MIB3 shoot and doing everything it can to lock down its story line.

“It’s complicated because of where and how [smith] wants to shoot; he wants to be close to home, to the kids," explains our spy, adding, "There’s also been talks about him wanting to include Jada and maybe even Willow in the movie, too. [sony] just managed to get through the mire that was Men in Black 3, and so they’re just trying to avoid anything remotely similar. They want the story straight, and want Will to sign off on it, totally, before they proceed.”

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/10/independence_day_sequel_will_s.html

[Radewart]

Man, how bad is MIB 3 gonna be? I was really looking forward to it and it has a great fun storyline. Men in Black is such a great concept for good sequels, but they keep screwing it up. Oh, sequels to ID4 are a bad idea.

Edited October 28, 2011 by Radewart

[Hero1]

Yeah sounds like they completely messed up MIB3 with no solid script

[JumpinJack AJ]

I just don't understand why they'd do things the way the press has reported. I mean, it can't be THAT bad but it's disappointing that that it has so much potential and things don't sound to be handled properly. Time will tell...it could be great.

[Silver Tiger]

I'm a little worried about MIB3 too. It sounds like it's a filmmaker's nightmare.

[Ale]

Dean Devlin on 'Independence Day 2'

It took 16 years, but Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich finally are set to bring their beloved and patriotic Independence Day back to the big screen.

"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," Devlin said during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "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."

The Will Smith starrer opened on July 3, 1996, to $50.2 million domestically. It has grossed $817.4 million worldwide.

"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," Devlin explained. "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.'

"I feel like we got it," he continued. "I think it took a long time, but I feel like we finally got something that really feels like, 'that’s worth seeing as a sequel to Independence Day.' "

Devlin remained tight-lipped about how the story would continue, but as for returning cast members, the writer-producer conceded: "We’re beginning a long process of talking to everybody. We’ll just have to see what happens."

In addition to Smith, Independence Day also starred Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid and Vivica A. Fox.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/independence-day-2-dean-devlin-stargate-leverage-346511

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[Da Brakes]

Even if they have a brilliant idea Will will still have his say... I'm struggling to think of a viable concept for this sequel

[BWS.com]

There is a concept. Ok. I dont know if they working on the old one or they think about a new one.
The old concept:
Smith is a General there. The mankind take the technologies from the aliens and get very soon their own spaceships. Not very much later they see: The aliens are not dead. Other cilisations from this race are alive and angry. Then I think there will be great spacefight scenes and on earth to.

Anything like this. I not remember it totally right i guess.