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Independence Day Resurgence is the title for the sequel to Independence Day, which took a fortune back in 1996 and was actually a decent piece of sci-fi entertainment, even though it was complete nonsense at times, particularly the way they bumped off the aliens by uploading a virus from a laptop….
Anyhoo, the new movie will be set 20 years after the first one – a good idea, since it IS 20 years since the first one, and will see the return of Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch and Brent Spiner… yes, Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation didn’t really die!!
The new cast members are Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher, Sela Ward and Maika Monroe (It Follows, The Guest), who plays Bill Pullman’s daughter. As President Thomas Whitmore, he, yes, used to be the President, but now that character will be played by Sela Ward, as President Lanford. Monroe said: “I work with Sela at the White House and have to live up to my dad. He was huge and I want to make him proud and I’m also a fighter pilot. I’m kind of a badass, I think”.
Liam Hemsworth plays Jake, who drives a forklift-like “moon tug”, out on the lunar outpost of the new defense initiative. He said: “It’s kind of unlucky how he ends up in that ship. Jake lost his parents in the first attack, he grew up in an orphanage, and eventually joined the military and became a fighter pilot, and eventually became one of the best of the best fighter pilots. I think his ego kind of got in the way, he made a bad decision and put someone’s life at risk, and he got the great job of driving this moon tug, which is basically a forklift on the moon.”
Jessie Usher’s character is Dylan Hiller, the son of Will Smith’s character in the first film. And note that Smith will NOT be returning, but Vivica A Fox WILL be back.
There’s also Angela Yeung Wing, whose stage name is Angelababy, and she will play Chinese fighter pilot, Rain.
Independence Day Resurgence also includes Joey King, William Fichtner, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Grace Huang.
As for the storyline, director Roland Emmerich showed the official title graphic (below) and said of thet film, “We call it in the film the War of ’96. It’s like a post-World generation that’s unified, and that’s amazing to see a world come together with a common enemy. That’s a resurgence.”
Independence Day Resurgence is released in cinemas on June 24th 2016 and I’ll definitely go again to see this one on the big screen. Check out the pictures below, which 20th Century Fox have released today, along with the title reveal and also the 30-minute ‘Independence Day Live’ press conference. For each picture in this piece, click on the image for the full-size version.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.