The trailer and website for the sequel to the 1996 film Independence Day was released over the weekend generating a collective ‘huh!?’ from the internet over the weekend. For the most part a lot of folks have fairly fond memories of the original film which helped cement Will Smith as a household name looked forward to alien infested adventure with the folks who brought together that film. But that was like 20 yrs ago and most people have no clue that a new film was being developed or why. Here’s the trailer that was released over the weekend:
Neat little trailer. It tugs at all the right chords for the folks who have any sort of nostalgia for the first movie… except for one big glaring omission. Where the hell is Will Smith’s character Captain Steven Hiller? Apparently the folks behind the movie were unable to secure Mr. Smith’s services for a sequel so they kinda… killed him off screen. According to the tie-in website www.warof1996.com Captain Hiller died.
While test piloting the ESD’s first alien hybrid fighter, an unknown malfunction causes the untimely dead of Col. Hiller. Hiller’s valor in the War of 96 made him a beloved global icon whose selfless assault against the alien mothership lead directly to the enemy’s defeat. He is survived by his wife Jasmine and son Dylan.
Nobody likes an off screen death. I’m sure not getting Will Smith to return was a big blow to the film makers while trying to get this film off the ground but man… the off screen death. C’mon guys, you’re better than that. Apparently they created two scripts for this movie in development wherein they either wrote Hiller alive or dead depending on negotiations with Will Smith so this one could have went either way.
Observations:
- Can’t help but wonder if that’s a grown up Dylan Dubrow played by Jessie Usher. (Dylan was Vivica’s son in the first movie. Yep, I wiki’d this)
- They added in Liam Hemsworth for some star power
- ID4 to IDR.
- Everyone came back except for Will. Even Brent Spiner.
