'Independence Day' sequel: We know the cast 鈥� is there still an appetite for disaster movies?
We now know which 'Independence Day' cast members will be returning and which new stars have signed on, but do audiences still want to see landmark-destroying movies?
We now know which 'Independence Day' cast members will be returning and which new stars have signed on, but do audiences still want to see landmark-destroying movies?
We now know some of the stars who will appear in the sequel to the 1996 movie 鈥淚ndependence Day.鈥澛�
According to director Roland Emmerich, original star Jeff Goldblum will be appearing in the sequel. Emmerich tweeted that both Goldblum and Liam Hemsworth of the 鈥淗unger Games鈥� films will be starring in the movie.聽
Actor Jessie Usher, who has appeared in 鈥淪urvivor鈥檚 Remorse鈥� and 鈥淲hen the Game Stands Tall,鈥� among other work, will appear in the movie as the son of Will Smith鈥檚 character from the original movie, Captain Steven Hiller, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The 鈥淚ndependence Day" sequel聽is set to be released in 2016.聽
鈥淚ndependence鈥� centers on aliens attacking Earth. The film followed a large ensemble cast that included President Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman), pilot Steven Hiller (Will Smith), and tech expert David Levinson (Goldblum), among others. The movie became the highest-grossing film of the year and Emmerich went on to direct such movies as the 2013 film 鈥淲hite House Down,鈥� the 2009 movie 鈥�2012,鈥� 2004鈥檚 鈥淭he Day After Tomorrow,鈥� and the 2000 movie 鈥淭he Patriot.鈥�
So will an 鈥淚ndependence Day" sequel do well when it comes out? The power of nostalgia should never be underestimated 鈥� many audience members who remember the first movie will probably seek out the sequel just out of curiosity.
It will be interesting to see how the movie does at the box office, however. Emmerich鈥檚 movie 鈥淲hite House鈥� grossed less than the film 鈥淥lympus Has Fallen,鈥� a movie released months earlier which featured a very similar premise (man protects president when White House is attacked). And聽鈥淚ndependence鈥� is still Emmerich鈥檚 highest-grossing movie, according to the website Box Office Mojo. The movie 鈥�2012,鈥� which was based on the premise that various geological disasters occurred in the year of the title, included similar sequences to 鈥淚ndependence鈥� and 鈥淭omorrow鈥� in which well-known landmarks are destroyed and various natural disasters occur. Neither 鈥淭omorrow鈥� nor 鈥�2012鈥� grossed as much as 鈥淚ndependence,鈥� with ticket costs adjusted for inflation, and in contrast to the triumph of "Independence," "2012" was the 15th-highest-grossing movie of the year, while "Tomorrow" was seventh-highest.
Whether audiences will enjoy a new movie in a similar vein comes down to whether they need a good story to go along with those special effects. Some critics enjoyed "2012," Emmerich's most recent disaster movie, with聽Roger Ebert of the聽Chicago Sun-Times聽calling the movie 鈥渇un," Variety critic Todd McCarthy writing that the effects are "sensational," and Stephen Farber of the Hollywood Reporter called the visual effects "eye-popping." But even most of those who gave the movie a positive review said the film's script was silly. McCarthy wrote that "on any level other than as sheer visual sensation, '2012' is a joke," while Farber noted that "the cheesy script fails to live up to the grandeur of the physical production." Monitor film critic Peter Rainer agreed, writing, "Every clich茅, every bad idea, every thudding line of dialogue, is redolent of other earlier epic clinkers."