Independence Day (franchise)

Independence Day (also known as ID and ID4) is a franchise of American science fiction action films that started with Independence Day in 1996, which was eventually followed by the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016. The franchise revolves around extraterrestrials invading Earth and seeking to eradicate mankind while the remaining human resistance uses everything at their disposal to defeat the invaders and take back the planet. Now considered to be a significant turning point in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster, the original film was released worldwide on July 3, 1996, but began showing on July 2 (the same day the film's story begins) on limited release as a result of a high level of anticipation among moviegoers. The film grossed over $817.4 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1996 and, briefly, the second-highest-grossing film worldwide of all time behind 1993's Jurassic Park. Currently, it ranks 69th on the list of highest-grossing films, and was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and sci-fi resurgence of the mid-late 1990s. The film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing.

Films

Independence Day (1996)

Main article: Independence Day

The film focuses on disparate groups of people who converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a worldwide attack by an extraterrestrial race of unknown origin. With the other people of the world, they launch a last-ditch counterattack on July 4—Independence Day in the United States.

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Main article: Independence Day: Resurgence

The film takes place twenty years after the events of the first film, during which the United Nations has collaborated to form Earth Space Defense (ESD), an international military defense and research organization. Through reverse engineering, the world has harnessed the power of alien technology and laid the groundwork to resist a second invasion.

Future

In May 2015, Deadline reported that Independence Day 3 and Independence Day 4 were being planned. In June 2016, during an interview with Empire magazine, Emmerich stated that a third film could be made, depending on the success of the second one. He also said that audiences would not have to wait as long as they did for the second in the series. According to Emmerich, the third film will depict an intergalactic journey, possibly set a year or two later since he wants to maintain the same group of people, especially the young characters. In October 2016, Emmerich spoke with ComingSoon.net and mentioned that potential sequels could be produced as TV-films, though they were still uncertain about how they would move forward with the sequels.

In March 2018, LRM Online reported that, after having met producer Dean Devlin at WonderCon and asking about the status on Independence Day 3, Devlin told them "I don’t know. I don’t know. Currently, I personally have no plans on doing another one." Following this, Ryan Scott at MovieWeb translated the poor reception of the second film and Devlin's comments as meaning Independence Day 3 will likely not happen, also noting that 20th Century Fox merging with The Walt Disney Company (meaning Disney will be in control of Fox's franchises) would make it even less likely that a third film would be pursued.

Plays

Independence Day UK (1996)

Main article: Independence Day UK

On August 4, 1996, BBC Radio 1 broadcast the one-hour play Independence Day UK, written, produced, and directed by Dirk Maggs, a spin-off depicting the alien invasion from a British perspective.

Novels

The first three novels were originally published in the 1990s based on the 1996 release of the first film, and were republished in March 2016 as a single-volume edition (The Complete Independence Day Omnibus).

• Independence Day by Stephen Molstad
• Independence Day: Silent Zone by Stephen Molstad
• Independence Day: War in the Desert by Stephen Molstad
• Independence Day: Crucible by Greg Keyes
• Independence Day: Resurgence by Alex Irvine

Comics

• Independence Day (Marvel Comics) by Paul Crain and Ralph Macchio
• Independence Day: Dark Fathom by Victor Gischler

Video games

Various video games based upon the franchise have been produced all the way back from 1996 and up until 2016.

ID4.COM Shockwave Mini Games (1996)

On the original www.id4.com 1996 website, 20th Century Fox produced & Media Revolution (defunct) developed, 4 mini games playable in either the web browser with Shockwave Plugin or as downloadable executables. Progress in these games were linked to an unlockable online comic with the final game being also linked to a contest. The games were, 1. Flight Sim: piloting an F/A-18 in a simulated canyon trench dodging obstacles, 2. Canyon Run: flying an F/A-18 through a canyon while being chased by an Alien Attacker, 3. Virus Upload: hack through the alien firewalls to implant a computer virus & 4. Game 4 Contest: Fly an F/A-18 after the shields have been brought down against unlimited Alien Attackers. The player tries to break the record of number of kills before dying to win a contest.

Independence Day - Computer Mission Disks (1996)

In 1996, Trendmasters included 11 floppy disk games for PC with their action figures. The games were Mission Disk 1: Command the Alien Invasion, Mission Disk 2: Mutate DNA, Mission Disk 3: Construct Weapons, Mission Disk 4: Classified, Mission Disk 5: Jumpstart an Attacker, Mission Disk 6: Infect the Mothership, Mission Disk 7: Bomb the City Destroyers, Mission Disk 8: Classified Attacker Information, Mission Disk 9: Top Secret, Mission Disk 10: Blast a Major City, and Mission Disk 11: Launch an Attacker.

Independence Day (Pinball) (1996)

In June 1996, Sega Pinball, Inc. released a pinball game based upon the 1996 film of the same name.

Independence Day (LCD) (1996)

In 1996, Tiger Electronics, Inc. released a handheld LCD game based upon the 1996 film of the same name.

Inside Independence Day (1996)

In 1996 a "behind-the-scenes" multimedia CD-ROM titled Inside Independence Day was released for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh; it includes storyboards for the film, sketches, movie clips, and a preview of the Independence Day video game.

Independence Day (ID4: The Game) (1997)

Main article: Independence Day (video game)

Independence Day is a combat flight simulator video game based on the 1996 film of the same name. The game was developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Fox Interactive for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and mobile. Originally meant to release in 1996 but was delayed until 1997. Involved arcade like controls, fighting under a City Destroyer at various besieged cities around the globe, bonus levels at remote locations & the final mission inside the Mothership. Many military jets were unlockable with the final mission allowing the player fly the captured Alien Attacker from Area 51 & using it to fire a nuke at the Alien primary power source.

Independence Day Online (ID4 Online) (2000)

Main article: ID4 Online

ID4 Online (2000), known more formally as Independence Day Online, was an arena-based action game developed by Mythic Entertainment, and published by Centropolis Entertainment. The game was billed as a direct sequel based on the movie Independence Day. This game was no longer available on early 2006, along with all other games offered on the Mythic-Realms gaming center excluding Dragon's Gate. On June 20, 2006, Mythic Entertainment was purchased by Electronic Arts. The game was space based first person shooter using human alien hybrid technologies fighting above various planets in the solar system. The player could fight as either humans or Aliens.

ID4 DVD ROM Game (2000)

For the 2000 DVD Five Star Collection Special Edition release of the movie, a DVD ROM game was included. It involved decoding Morse code while on a deadline timer in order to defeat the Aliens.

Independence Day (2005)

Independence Day was a wireless mobile version of the brand released in 2005.

ID4Game.com (2016)

To promote the Blu-Ray 20th Anniversary & Ultimate Edition release, a web browser game was released by 20th Century Fox Home. It involved 8 bit graphics & was a side scroller where the player piloted a fighter jet against Alien Attackers. After which the player entered the interior of a Mothership (exterior had a City Destroyer appearance while interior resembled the Mothership) to drop a nuclear bomb on a precise target. The site was taken down once Disney acquired the Fox Home websites & domains.

Independence Day My Street (2016)

Promoting the release of the second film, 20th Century Fox produced a website where you could use satellite imagery of your neighborhood and see what it would look like after an alien attack.

Independence Day: Join the ESD (2016)

Promoting the release of the second film, 20th Century Fox produced a website where you could enlist the fictional Earth Space Defense (ESD) and receiving new ranks by completing different challenges and games. These games were developed by MRM//McCann. This was tied to a recruitment planned with participation of the US Army. Each game while based on the fight against aliens tied back to real world professions within the US Army like Microbiologist & Cryptologic Network Warfare Specialist. The games were, 1. Aerial Recon: Pilot a drone simulation to disable the Alien shields, 2. Bio Extract: Isolate Alien microbes to ward off their telepathic mind control, 3. Crack the Alien coded message & 4. Spacecraft Overhaul: Perform mechanic repair to a Space Moon Tug.

Independence Day: Resurgence - Battle Heroes (2016)

Main article: Independence Day: Resurgence - Battle Heroes

Independence Day: Resurgence - Battle Heroes was a free mobile app strategy game based on Independence Day: Resurgence. The game was developed by Zen Studios and Fox Digital Entertainment and was available to download for free on the iTunes App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore. The game was an online only, mostly spaced based combat game with turn based mechanics. The player worked to unlock & upgrade Earth space fighters from different nations to fight Aliens around various locations in the Solar System.

Independence Day: Extinction (2016)

Main article: Independence Day: Extinction

Independence Day: Extinction was a mobile game created by Linekong U.S. and based on Independence Day: Resurgence. The game was released on June 30, 2016, and was available to download for free on the iTunes App Store and Google Play. The game was an online turn based strategy game where the player would choose to either fight as the humans or the Aliens. It involved resource mining, base building & upgrading technologies. You could then attack other players' bases while they were away using space based energy / gravity weapons, flying craft, tanks, hovering artillery & ground troops.

Toys

Trendmasters released a toy line for the original film in 1996 & a second wave in 1997. Each action figure, vehicle or playset of the first wave came with a 3½" floppy disk that contained an interactive PC game (Mac version could be ordered via mail). Cepia was scheduled to release a toy line of action figures, vehicles & hand held weapons in time for the second film, unfortunately due to delayed production they never saw wide release. Pop Funko also released various figures based on the franchise.

External links

• Official website