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‘Independence Day’ at 30: Roland Emmerich & Dean Devlin talk blowing up the White House and crafting a true sci-fi classic (interview)

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By Jeff Spry, Published yesterday

‘Welcome to Earth… Now that’s what I call a close encounter!’

Happy 30th birthday to “Independence Day,” the sci-fi mega blockbuster that made Will Smith an instant Hollywood star, crushed the box office by becoming the fastest film to reach $100 million, and obliterated Washington, D.C, all in one fell swoop of pure popcorn movie entertainment.

We often talk about certain works of art ushering in or being ushered in by, but “Independence Day” (“ID4”) truly broke the mold for how huge tentpole pictures were marketed three decades ago, something that still reverberates today. Is there any bigger money shot than a city-sized flying saucer poised over the White House delivering a lethal laser blast of searing coherent light?

So, to celebrate “Independence Day” on its 30th anniversary, we connected with the dynamic creative duo of director Roland Emmerich and screenwriter Dean Devlin (“Universal Soldier,” “Stargate,” “Godzilla”) for a jog down memory lane to remember one of the greatest sci-fi movies in history.

INDEPENDENCE DAY Clips “City Attacks & Dog Fight” (1996) – YouTube

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“We’d just done ‘Stargate’, and it was this bizarre situation where MGM had no movies to release in the month of October, so they decided to release our film,” Devlin tells Space. “Roland and I had a lot of frustrations in the process of the film marketing. So we were in a fortunate position when ‘Independence Day’s’ script came out, we had nine studios bidding on it. We had a lot of leverage, and one of the things we said was that we want to have real control over the marketing. Roland had this idea of a trailer where in it you see the White House blow up.”

Its first teaser on Super Bowl Sunday in January of 1996 was a potent 30-second shot across Hollywood’s bow to announce itself to the world. Rarely had marketing campaigns started six months early, something that’s become commonplace in the digital age. But back in 1996, when Bill Clinton was president, Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls were flying high, and the Summer Olympic Games were about to ignite in Atlanta, it was a bold move that paid off. You may like

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“I’ll never forget, after we made the deal, we had this big meeting with the studio, and we got in a room, and they said to Roland and I, ‘Well, you know we can’t really show the White House blowing up in a trailer with what happened recently with this terrorist attack on the Federal Building. It could cause a problem.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but this is aliens, it’s not terrorists.’ Then Roland goes, ‘So wait, you’re telling me that if we do this, it will cause an enormous amount of controversy and everybody will talk about our movie. And that’s wrong why?'”

Yes, kids, audiences really did wait in long lines snaking around the block to see their favorite films when they opened. This sci-fi extravaganza was the perfect summertime escape that was appropriately launched over the festive Fourth of July week. The advertising sizzle paid off, and the film became the top-grossing of the year, raking in a whopping $817.4 million worldwide.

Emmerich recalls that the studio secretly tested “ID4” with and without the White House explosion, and there was no more discussion, leaving it as one of the highest-testing teaser trailers ever.

Starring Bill Pullman, Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Viveca Fox, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Brent Spiner, and Randy Quaid, it showcased terrifying extraterrestrial designs by Patrick Tatopoulos, a stirring score from David Arnold, enveloping soundscapes, and some of the best miniatures and model work ever captured on screen. What to read next

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It’s a spirited throwback to ‘50s-era science fiction thrillers like “The War of the Worlds” or “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” and even won a well-deserved Academy Award for Volker Engel and his ace VFX team.

“The art of film has been lost,” Emmerich notes. “When you look at ‘Project Hail Mary‘ for example. It’s meandering, and you don’t really know why this was $250 million. Because it’s one actor and a stone puppet.”So this is what got lost. That films got made for a price with great visual effects, and we had great visual effects and won an Oscar.”

ID4’s cast seems star-studded in hindsight, but Emmerich and his team took some big risks that earned them the ire of the studio.

“At that point, Will Smith was nobody, and we had to really fight for him,” explains Emmerich. “The same thing with Jeff Goldblum. Nobody wanted to see him. At the very beginning, there was this idea of using up-and-coming stars and revisiting older stars, and they [the studio] didn’t like that. We had to fight for them. And it inspired a different marketing campaign. Like with helicopters flying around with ‘The world ends July 4th.'”

Independence Day – Official® Teaser [HD] – YouTube

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When “Independence Day” opened wide in 2,977 venues, fans furiously flocked to theaters and multiplexes around the country, creating a once-in-a-decade demand for available seats. That week, Roland Emmerich was vacationing in sunny Puerto Vallarta, as far away from the rollout as possible.

Continue/Read Original Article: ‘Independence Day’ at 30: Roland Emmerich & Dean Devlin talk blowing up the White House and crafting a true sci-fi classic (interview) | Space