‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ Trailer Released — The Aliens Are Back

Back in 1996, Independence Day was unleashed on the world for the first time. Boasting state-of-the-art special effects and raising the bar for blockbusters in the late ’90s, the film was a critical and commercial hit. In 2012, a much-delayed series of sequels were announced for the movie — even though many didn’t expect a follow-up, considering the outcome of the original instalment — and the new trailer for the first of these sequels was revealed online over the weekend.

You can watch it below, courtesy of 20th Century Fox.

The trailer focuses on Jeff Goldblum’s David Levinson, the MIT-educated computer expert who helped foil the aliens in the original movie. Now the ESD Director, he explains that while humanity has successfully used the aliens’ advanced technology to bolster their defenses, it won’t be enough to prevent a second attack. It’s soon revealed that the aliens were able to send out a distress signal before their climatic defeat, which has put into motion a retaliation on their part, one that has taken 20 years or so to come to fruition. The tone may be dark from the outset here, but we can fully expect the thick vein of humor from the original to be ever-present, one that gave Independence Day a sly, witty tone overall.

Independence Day was infamous for its CGI back in 1996, computer generated images that saw famous landmarks obliterated in seconds, entire civilizations annihilated and destroyed, and the world brought to its knees. The sight of the White House exploding — an image that adorned many promotional posters and DVD covers worldwide — was one to strike fear into moviegoers, a monumental image, and one of the most culturally significant of the ’90s. Along with mesmerizing battle scenes that gave Star Wars or Top Gun a run for their money, Independence Day was a huge success, raking in $817.4 million at the box-office. A sequel, no matter how delayed, was all but inevitable.

However, the plot didn’t really call for one since it ended on a high note — with the aliens defeated by the “superior” species. Bringing back the original cast was always going to be a huge task, mainly due to the varied career trajectories since, but the almost 20-year gap between movies also played a huge part. Will Smith became a global superstar in the wake of the original, and will not reprise his role here — an announcement broken by Cinema Blend back in June — but his on-screen family do return. His step-son, Dylan, will be played in adult form by Jessie Usher, whilst Vivica A. Fox will reprise her role as Jasmine, Dylan’s mother.

On the other side of the coin, Bill Pullman returns as former U.S President Thomas J. Whitmore, who seems traumatically scarred by the events of Independence Day, and there will be appearances from Judd Hirsch as David’s eccentric father, and Brent Spiner as Dr. Brackish Okun, the latter of whom met a grisly demise at the hands of the aliens in the first film. Whether his role will feature in flashback or not, only time will tell.

As well as old faces, we get a slew of newcomers, too. Maika Monroe will continue her rise to stardom, following solid turns in It Follows and The Guest to star as Whitmore’s grown-up daughter. She survived the events of the first film and lost her mother during the chaos, so it will be interesting to see how her character takes shape. Liam Hemsworth will take the epic battle to the aliens in this instalment, Sela Ward will step in as U.S President Lanford, William Fichtner will play the mysterious General Adams (a role that will be expanded in future sequels), and Chinese model Angelababy — frequently tagged as the Kim Kardashian of China — will star in an unspecified role.

Directed by Roland Emmerich, Independence Day: Resurgence will open in the U.K. and U.S on June 24, 2016.

[Image via 20th Century Fox]