‘Independence Day’ Sequel Scripts ‘Not Good Enough,’ Roland Emmerich Says

Independence Day sequel plans will have to wait because writer-director Roland Emmerich has seen the two scripts for ID Forever Parts I and II, and has decided they’re “not good enough.”

Emmerich discussed the project in a recent interview with Empire. “The stars have to align a bit for that one,” he said. “We have a very good script, but it’s not good enough yet.”

The first drafts were completed by Emmerich and writing partner Dean Devlin, the same team behind the 1996 hit, which racked up more than $816 million at the box office, according to IMDb.

The duo has handed off additional rewrite chores to James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man and Zodiac), who had been working on the new drafts prior to the director’s comments.

Reports earlier this year shed some light on the story path for an Independence Day sequel.

According to a press junket for Roland Emmerich’s White House Down, the director told reporters the main characters would be “sons” of some of the original characters.

“The humans knew that one day the aliens would come back. And they know that the only way you can really travel in space is through wormholes. So for the aliens, it could take two or three weeks, but for us that’s 20 or 25 years.”

(Long enough for the new cast to come of age.)

Emmerich indicated at the press conference that the sons of Will Smith’s and Bill Pullman’s characters would take center stage.

Going that route, ID Forever could face issues getting its original (surviving) stars to return. Will Smith is probable — after all, his three Men in Black films prove he’s not averse to sequels.

Getting Smith would also make son and After Earth co-star Jaden Smith an easier acquisition. But thus far, Pullman is the only one to come out and say he’s on board.

(Anyone remember Pullman’s “presidential” moment from the original?)

No matter how you feel about a second (and third) ID flick, it’s strange that Hollywood hasn’t gotten around to this before now. At the time of its release, Independence Day was the second highest grossing film of all time.

What are your thoughts on the Independence Day sequel? Good idea or flogging a dumb dead horse?