Roland Emmerich a confirmé au micro d'AlloCiné qu' "Independence Day" aurait bien droit à non pas une mais deux suites.

Si Roland Emmerich est de passage à Paris, ce n'est pas pour atomiser la tour Eiffel, vitrifier l'Elysée ou vaporiser la Seine, mais pour promouvoir son prochain opus, l'étonnant Anonymous (sortie le 4 janvier prochain). Comme le monsieur est remarquablement aimable, nous avons profité de notre entretien avec lui pour nous faire confirmer quelques nouvelles côté Independence Day ; il y aura donc bien deux suites écrites (et tournées) conjointement, soit Independence Day 2 et 3. Si le réalisateur et son collaborateur Dean Devlin ont déjà l'histoire (une seule trame commune aux deux épisodes, qui devraient quand même rester visibles séparément), encore faut-il achever de l'écrire. "Nous ne voulons pas faire un film mais deux. C'est une trilogie. [...] Il y a encore beaucoup de chemin avant d'y arriver, mais nous avons commencé, à présent."



Bref, ce qui avait capoté en 2009 (apparemment en raison d'exigences salariales jugées exorbitantes côté Will Smith - 50 millions de dollars pour les deux volets -, avant même qu'on n'en vienne au contenu) semble aujourd'hui en mesure de se réaliser, depuis que les forces en présence ont décidé de se mettre en premier lieu d'accord sur les scripts. Une chose est sûre, les films se feront avec Will Smith ou ne se feront pas, Roland dixit, alors que quelques rumeurs (cf. le site Vulture) prêtaient à la Fox l'intention d'avancer avec ou sans l'acteur, dont les apparitions sur grand écran se font de plus en plus rares (rien depuis Sept vies en 2008, en attendant Men In Black 3 au printemps prochain), et qui ne souhaite pas s'éloigner de sa famille. Cela étant, on imagine effectivement mal le studio se passer de la star la plus bankable d'Hollywood (c'est d'ailleurs la Fox qui était à l'origine de la tentative de 2009, articulée autour de la participation de Will Smith), en s'opposant de surcroît à la volonté du "Master of Disaster" Roland Emmerich, lequel s'est montré catégorique. Prochaine étape, donc, la remise des scenarii à la Fox et à l'acteur pour approbation.

A.G.

Comment vont-ils justifier le titre ? Les extraterrestres vont-ils systématiquement revenir à la même période de l'année ?

Independence Day 2 Is Moving Forward Says Writer Dean Devlin

Back in February 2011, director Roland Emmerich revealed that he had not even started the script for Independence Day 2. Today, the filmmaker's Independence Day co-writer Dean Devlin said they finally have a story locked in that they want to make.

"I can tell you that Roland and I have been working together for the first time in 11 years and we're very 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."

The writer-producer also talked about how he didn't want to make a sequel for so many years, to honor the experience of making the first movie.

"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.' I feel like we got it. 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.'"

We also reported in October 2011 that the sequel could face a major casting snag, with Will Smith reportedly demanding upwards of $50 million to appear in both Independence Day 2 and Independence Day 3. Dean Devlin says that they are just starting to talk to cast members, and that no deals are in place yet.

"We're beginning a long process of talking to everybody. We'll just have to see what happens."

In related sequel news, Dean Devlin also said that he would like to make a follow-up to his 1994 sci-fi tale Stargate, which spawned the TV shows Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Stargate Universe. Here's what he had to say about their initial plan to make a Stargate theatrical trilogy.

"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."

Independence Day 2 is in development and stars Will Smith. The film is directed by Roland Emmerich.

Stargate was released October 28th, 1994 and stars Kurt Russell, James Spader, Alexis Cruz, Viveca Lindfors, Mili Avital, John Diehl, Leon Rippy, Carlos Lauchu. The film is directed by Roland Emmerich.