Roland Emmerich talks follow-ups to ‘Independence Day’: ‘We want to do a bigger arc’

2012 director Roland Emmerich is pondering a pair of follow-ups to his ‘96 alien hit Independence Day.

“What we want to do in the next – it’s actually two movies – we want to do a bigger arc,” Emmerich told MTV. “Independence Day was always like the king who leads his troops into battle against an evil force, and that stays like that.”

Last month Latino Review reported that Emmerich was chatting about the possibility of a sequel and that budget concerns –namely that of original star Will Smith’s salary– was holding down production.

“Will is essential for us, for this movie and actually for the audience too. And, so, it’s in limbo and lately the studios are fighting,” Emmerich said on Fox asking him about the possibility of an Independence Day 2 without Smith. “Will is a gross player and is probably the only gross player right now who’s worth his gross. So we’ll see what happens. I would love to do it.”

2012 is out today in U.S. theaters.

Source: MTV