Independence Day Director Discusses Forthcoming Sequel

It's rare for the follow-up to a massive summer blockbuster to take as along as twenty years to appear, but next summer will finally see the release of the Independence Day sequel. Independence Day: Resurgence reunites director Roland Emmerich with several members of the original 1996 cast, and Emmerich has recently spoken about what fans can expect from the new film.

In an interview with Collider, Emmerich explained that the alien fleet defeated in the first movie was only a small part of the invading extraterrestrial force.

"It's only like one of the hives, like kind of moving around," he said. "What we did this time, we tried to expand the universe, too. It's not as simple as the last one because you cannot make it as simple as the last one.

"Also, it's a little bit about what happened to our world when you know that they are coming back. We had twenty years to come together as a planet and to build incredible things to have a little more even fight."

Production wrapped on the film a few weeks ago. Joining returning cast members Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, and Bill Pulman are relative newcomers Maika Monroe--best known for her lead role in this year's horror hit It Follows--and Jesse Usher, both of whom Emmerich describes as "incredible" in their roles.

Independence Day: Resurgence is set for a June 24, 2016 release, and also stars Liam Hemsworth, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Sela Ward.