News on Roland Emmerich's Independence Day 2 has, quite often it seems, been accompanied by updates on a potential Stargate reboot. Emmerich and producer/writer Dean Devlin have been talking about an update of their 1994 sci-fi blockbuster, which grew into a multimedia franchise that included three TV series and a pair of DVD sequels, and now it has been officially announced and in the form they always hoped it would be.
Emmerich will direct and Devlin will produce a new Stargate trilogy set up with MGM and Warner Bros. Kurt Russell and James Spader starred in the original film which dealt with the discovery of a wormhole leading to other civilizations that may have influenced Earth. Stargate banked more than $200M back in 1994 which was no chump change back then.
Stargate may be a ways off as Devlin is busy making his directorial debut on Geostorm, while Emmerich is shooting Independence Day 2, which is now getting a rewrite from Carter Blanchard. Blanchard is the guy penning that forever-developing Spy Hunter film. While this is a step in the right direction, without Will Smith on board and no A-list star to replace him this still feels like a project that is treading water. As it stands, Independence Day 2 is penciled in for July 1st 2016.
