Well, it looks like the possibility of a sequel to Independence Day is more than just a rumor. In a recent interview with MTV News, director Roland Emmerich revealed that, while there’s no script as of yet, there is definitely an idea for what the sequel will entail.

Emmerich plans on the sequel having a much larger scope than the original film, and says that the sequel will actually consist of two films that simply pick up where the first left off.

While I’m still skeptical as to how well an Independence Day sequel will play out, it’s reassuring to know that several of the stars from the film have already agreed to reprise their roles for subsequent films. Audiences will get to see Will Smith once again grace the screen as Captain Steve Hiller, and Bill Pullman will return as the president who helped steer the world through its alien invasion.

No plot details have been revealed yet (after all, the film is still in idea mode), but Emmerich did say that the film will not take place in space. According to the director, “It’s always about earth and that earth gets invaded,” so the plan is to keep the film’s action rooted on earth.

An official title for the sequel(s) hasn’t been decided on, but Emmerich’s is currently playing with the title ID4-ever.

More news to come as details are revealed.

Oh boy. Any hope you may have of Roland Emmerich either disappearing off the face of the earth or directing a film that doesn’t obliterate society has probably been shattered. 2012 has made some serious bank: $225 million worldwide, which Variety calls the fifth best international opening of all time.

This is sort of surprising, considering the buzz for 2012 wasn’t huge or anything. The biggest star power in the film is John Cusack, who is talented as all get out, make no mistake, but apparently is still quite a box office draw. That, or the explosions. The film was budgeted at around $200 million, so they’re in good shape.

In other news, Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox has already gathered up $12.6 million in the UK where it has been released for a month. It’ll surely make its money back when it is released here on November 25.

Sadly, Focus Features’ Pirate Radio only scraped together $2.9 million in its limited release, while (not so sadly) Robert Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol fell in profit by 26%, giving the film a total gross of only $63.3 million.

The day of the screening I was joking around with some friends at my day job and came up with this snazzy catchphrase regarding the new movie 2012: “Only John Cusack can outrun disasters of massive proportions but not be able to stop the disaster that was his character’s marriage.” I knew that Amanda Peet played Kate Curtis, the separated wife of Cusack’s Jackson Curtis and I had a feeling that by the end of the movie their long lost love would be reunited by the events of the movie.  Boy was I right, and I didn’t need the Mayans to predict this like they allegedly have predicted the disaster that is 2012.

Director and Screenwriter (gotta give credit where credit is due) Roland Emmerich managed to create what will be this season’s greatest comedy. I don’t think that is what he set out to do upon drafting, filming, and editing 2012 but that is the end result. This two-and-a-half hour comedy will have you rolling in your seat as you watch Cusack and the gang outrace disaster after disaster after disaster. The over-the-top elements and wacky situations in which Cuscak and the gang find themselves is downright hysterical. You’ll laugh as the Cusack Gang (short name from now on) out drive an earthquake that is ripping California apart. You won’t be able to resist the temptation to crack a smile when the Cusack Gang manage to hit the perfectly placed upturned pavement, use it as a ramp to jump a very large hole caused by the massive earthquake they were outrunning, and drive through a glass building that was toppling in front of them. It’s the Dukes of Hazzard meets Lethal Weapon 4!

The plot is straight out of an NBC Movie of the week that should be shown as a two-parter during February sweeps. In 2009 Doctor Adrian Helmsley, played by Chiwetel Ejofor, discovers that the Earth’s core is getting hotter. He takes the facts and presents them to Carl Anheuser, played by Oliver Platt, who is the President’s top scientist. They determine that with the help of the world’s government, ships can be built to house all of the world’s culture as well as those select individuals that helped fund the project and all government parties throughout the world. The plans are put into motion and in 2010 the governments unite. Over the next two years the Chinese build six very large metal ships that will be used to transport countless live animals and people to safety for months if not years, and house state-of-the-art electronics that will guide their way. These Arks will be used for the months or years it takes to restart civilization after the great floods.

There is even a Who’s Who of characters that gave 2012 that NBC Movie of the Week feel. Danny Glover is the President of the United States. Woody Harrelson is Charlie, the one “crazy person” who knows the Government’s plans but isn’t taken seriously. Blu Mankuma plays Harry Helmsley the father of Ejofor’s character, and George Segal plays Tony Delgato who hasn’t spoken or seen his son in years and is also Harry’s musical partner. This short list of actors helped to make 2012 feel like a Movie of the Week. Where are Hasselhoff and Shatner when you need them?

I won’t even get into the wooden performance Glover gives as the POTUS. His delivery and demeanor seemed to indicate that this was a paycheck and not really a wise career move. Cusack did a good job at not taking the story too seriously. I mean, how can you when you’re constantly avoiding disaster with seconds to spare. Peet was the only actor who delivered a believable portrayal of a character. As I’ve been told, it only takes one rotten apple to ruin the bunch – thanks to Amanda Peet for being that apple. I kid, I kid… you were the bright spot to this comedy and you were the only person that made me believe that your character was in danger.

I’m sure some will think this was an amazing movie based on the great effects. YES, the effects were incredible. The way Emmerich choreographed the destruction of the Earth was, to say the least, beautiful. His use of real-world physics helped to portray the massive destruction that was happening before our eyes. His sinking of California was an awesome effect and the way the land mass sank while buildings kept toppling over was darn cool to watch. His use of dust and debris from downed buildings converging down the roads and toward the populace was too reminiscent of images captured on 9/11/01 in New York city.  I found myself picking up small sound effects that added to some of the massive events unfolding on the screen. There is a scene where the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy is being lifted by a massive tsunami and the scraping noise of the jets sliding off the bow of the ship was a nice touch of realism. But, as we all know, effects do not make a movie great. Story and acting are also needed to help sell the Hollywood magic and are just what was missing from 2012. I find it hard to take a movie seriously when the entire audience is laughing at EVERYTHING that is happening in front of them. If Emmerich is smart he’ll have Columbia put this under the Comedy section come Oscar time.

Columbia Pictures manages to deliver a PG-13 movie with intense disaster sequences, a 2.5 hour run time, little story,  lots of special effects, and laughs-a-plenty (which I’m sure was unintentional and just the by-product of a bad movie).

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 

There’s more human suffering on display in Roland Emmerich’s 2012 than any other film I’ve seen. Emmerich raises the stakes of his own game, creating a level of destruction that outdoes anything seen in Independence Day or The Day After Tomorrow. Where he succeeds most brilliantly is in forming a perfectly satisfying piece of coherent bubble gum B-movie, where Michael Bay, given a comparable amount of funding, will produce utter chaos.

The only well-rounded character in 2012 is the calamity itself: unprecedentedly huge solar flares are causing the core of the earth to heat up and weaken the crust of the earth. This is making the tectonic plates of the earth shift around, causing earthquakes, tidal waves, volcanoes and the bisection of the occasional grocery store. Emmerich takes about a half an hour to warm up the audience for impending doom, which makes 2012 incredibly lengthy when it doesn’t need to be. He could lop off the entire front portion of the film and begin with a mysterious bang, letting us put the pieces together as we go along, and it would have functioned just as well.

As a result, we get weird subplots — the replacement of famous artwork in the Louvre and Buddhist monks and simple nonsense. That’s okay, though, because this breathing room lets us hang out with characters, none of whom are totally fleshed out, but also none that are really unlikeable. John Cusack, as a failed everyman writer, is as likable as he’s been in every role in his career.

Blessed with a slightly better script, he would really hold 2012 together; as it stands, it’s definitely an ensemble piece. We get fine turns from Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson and Chitwel Ejiofor, but they’re the standard characters we’ve become familiar with since Emmerich showed them off in Independence Day. His actors are chess pieces in showcase scenes, which is totally fine. The movie knows what it wants to be, satisfies that purpose, and nothing more.

It’s an average film, highly entertaining in the theater and ultimately disposable on the way out. However, the “rollercoaster ride” cliche totally applies to 2012, and seems to wear it with pride. The thing is, I can’t see Emmerich going anywhere after this film; he’s going to have to try his hand at a different game, because where do you go after destroying the world?

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

It often happens that movies that seem to end on a nicely wrapped up note still leave that slight dangling thread from which a sequel could potentially be weaved. This does not, however, mean that filmmakers should grab the opportunity to do so.

Independence Day is one such film that should be left alone. In 1996, writer and director Roland Emmerich gave audiences an action-packed movie that left us cheering for humanity, while also leading us to wonder about what would happen if aliens ever did attack earth.

After Jeff Goldblum’s computer genius and Will Smith’s flying skills give armies around the world the opportunity to take down the alien invaders, humans achieve victory, the aliens are blown to bits, the world is saved, and the 4th of July takes on a new significance. Although we can ponder what happens to the film’s characters after earth’s near-destruction, for the most part Emmerich gave his audience a rather tidy ending.

Still, Emmerich has written a sequel to Independence Day, and is currently in talks with 20th Century Fox to work out the production specifics. Considering that the film ended with the aliens being destroyed, after having left their own ravished planet, one has to wonder what a sequel could entail. It wouldn’t make sense for more aliens to return, and does anyone really want to see a movie about David/Jeff Goldblum getting back together with his ex-wife? Or Captain Hiller/Will Smith’s newlywed years with his exotic dancing bride? What does that leave Emmerich to work with?

The biggest issue the sequel is facing as far as production goes, though, is the financial aspect.

Will Smith is one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood, largely because he receives a cut of the profits from every movie he does. Because of this, FOX is hesitant to cast Smith in his original role, a decision that would severely damage the chance of an Independence Day 2 being any good at all.

For now, the possibility of Independence Day 2 remains just that– a possibility. Personal opinion is that it should stay as such, but if it does go forward, it’ll be interesting to see whether they can manage to make a movie that is anywhere near the quality of the original.

Sony, in an effort to grab more of an audience with the Roland Emmerich/John Cusack disaster film 2012, will “roadblock” televisions with a two-minute advertising sequence from the film on October 1st.

Similar to what Universal did with Dawn of the Dead several years ago only on a broader scale, the advertisement will put footage of the film in front of a purportedly astounding number of people: 110 million North American viewers. Online, this number could increase by as much as 30 million, according to the studio.

Expect to see 2012 footage on a bunch of cable networks along with ABC, NBC and CBS “between 10:50 p.m. and 11 p.m. on the coasts” and other times throughout the nation on the first of October. Afterwards, an extension of the two minute sequence will be viewable online at Fancast.com.

The film will finally be released in theaters on November 13th, 2009.

The first teaser trailer for what is already being named an “epic” for Roland Emmerich’s 2012 has just hit the web! And of coarse we have it for you!

Besides the shear awesomeness of what happens in the clip below, it is exactly what it is, it’s a teaser trailer. And boy did they do it right! I really want to see more of it, NOW!!

Emmerich is responsible for other epic films such as Independence Day, The Patriot, The Day After Tomorrow, and one of my all time favs, Stargate. Check out the teaser below and let me know what you think.

The film is slated for a mid July 2009 release. Another summer blockbuster? I am sure we will see sooner than later.