Summary

• Roland Emmerich casts doubt on an Independence Day 3 reunion with Will Smith due to Smith's character having been killed off in the sequel.
• Emmerich previously claimed that Smith dropped out of Independence Day: Resurgence only two weeks before filming, necessitating a complete script rewrite.
• The poor response to the sequel and Smith's character being dead suggests a third film in the franchise shouldn't move forward.

Independence Day 3 moving forward.

In a recent interview with The Playlist, Emmerich is asked about whether he could reunite with Smith for Independence Day 3. The director casts doubt on the idea given Smith's character's death and the franchise's current rights situation. Check out Emmerich's comment below:

“Well, yeah. I’ve been like, ‘[Will’s character] died in number two. But also, Disney now has the decision to make it, which is even worse, you know, because they never ever did my deal.”

Resurgence Proves That Independence Day 3 Shouldn't Happen

Roland Emmerich's Sequel Failed To Make An Impact

The first Independence Day was one of the major blockbuster hits of the 1990s. Smith was just becoming a major movie star at the time of the film's release, and the film also featured performances from Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman. On top of that, Independence Day featured stunning effects sequences, and the destruction of the White House arguably lives on as one of the most iconic shots in movie history.

Though Emmerich returned to direct and Goldblum reprised his role as Levinson, Independence Day: Resurgence was a major critical dud. The film, which picks up twenty years after the end of Independence Day, currently has only a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the audience score is only marginally better at 30%. The first film, by contrast, has 68% and 75%, respectively. Like its predecessor, the sequel features some impressive visuals, but it also repeats and exacerbates one of the key flaws of the original, which is a lack of character depth and emotion.

Independence Day: Resurgence wasn't a total box office flop, but it was undoubtedly a commercial disappointment. The first movie made a stunning $817.4 million worldwide, but the sequel maxed out at only $389.7 million, a significant drop. A third film could end up struggling even more. Emmerich's 1996 film evidently remains a disaster and sci-fi classic, but it might be for the best if Independence Day 3 doesn't happen.

Source: The Playlist