Director Roland Emmerich offered an update to The Direct about Independence Day 3 during San Diego Comic-Con 2024.
Independence Day (starring the likes of Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum) debuted in theaters in 1996, to be followed by a sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, 20 years later.
Emmerich wrote and directed both films in the sci-fi series, which followed the events of an alien invasion on Earth and how humanity reacts to it.
Independence Day 3 Hinted at By Director
Speaking to The Direct in a roundtable interview at San Diego Comic-Con, Independence Day writer and director Roland Emmerich revealed where he stands on a potential third film.
Emerich said that he "[has] a story" for Independence Day 3, he just has not heard from the franchise's new rights-holders, Disney:
The Direct: "I have a quick unrelated question for you. You've previously shared hope for a third 'Independence Day' film. In 2024, what does it look like? Is there no hope that it's gonna happen?"
Emmerich: "They've sold it now to Disney and I have to probably kind of talk to somebody at Disney."
The Direct: "So, those talks haven't happened yet?"
Emmerich: "…I have a story and everything. Trust me, I have a story."
Independence Day was one of the numerous franchises to fall under the 20th Century Fox banner, which was purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 2019. Since the deal, word on a third film in the sci-fi series has been quiet.
Despite this, Emmerich revealed that he is "ready to go" whenever he gets the call:
Emmerich: "I'm ready to go."
The Direct: "I'll call Disney. Not that I have any sway.”
Emmerich: "Yeah, call them."
The Future of Independence Day
Since 2016, word on the future of the Independence Day franchise has remained scarce.
In May 2015 (roughly a year before Resurgence's release), two more Independence Day movies were announced. However, according to Emmerich, this depended on the success of the then-upcoming second film.
After that second movie debuted to middling reviews and a sub-par $397 million box office return, the prospects of more films in the franchise started to look bleak.
The picture would get even more unclear as the studio behind Emmerich's sci-fi franchise, 20th Century Fox, was sold to Disney, putting nearly every Fox-owned project in the works at the time into question.
Despite this, Emmerich has remained hopeful that he will get to take another crack at the Independence Day nut.
In a 2020 conversation with CinemaBlend, Emmerich posited that he had a feeling that "Disney would maybe be interested in doing it," but had not received a call:
"I don’t know. I really haven’t even gotten to it. I had naturally talked with Fox about it, and then when they got bought, I kind of said, 'Well, that’s probably [over.]' But I don’t know. We’ll see, it’s kind of like it could happen, it could not happen. Hollywood is like a strange, strange place these days, because I have a feeling Disney would maybe be interested in doing it. They like that kind of franchise movie."
Now, more than four years later, it seems that remains to be the case, and Independence Day 3 has not made any official progress.
But, given the cache behind a franchise like Independence Day, it would not be all that surprising if a third film were pursued at some point in the future.
Independence Day is now streaming on Hulu.
