Wire report
The making of Independence Day at 30: ‘I panicked and raced to set to rewrite’
The makers of the blockbusting sci-fi thriller reveal how they made a hit, why Kevin Spacey was almost involved and what went wrong with the sequel The architects of cinema’s most popular alien invasion have slightly differing accounts of how exactly the original plans for Independence Day came to them. But they both agree that it began with the now-famous image of a massive spaceship looming over a city skyline. Roland Emmerich, the director, recalls explaining the scope of the concept to Dean Devlin, the co-writer and producer, at the latter’s home: “He lived in an area on a hill, so I said, let’s go to the window – all of what you see would be [covered by] the underside of a spaceship. He said, where’s the humor? And I said, there’s a guy knocking out an alien saying ‘welcome to Earth.’ Then we learned that Tim Burton, a director I really admire, was doing Mars Attacks! We knew that m
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The makers of the blockbusting sci-fi thriller reveal how they made a hit, why Kevin Spacey was almost involved and what went wrong with the sequel The architects of cinema’s most popular alien invasion have slightly differing accounts of how exactly the original plans for Independence Day came to them. But they both agree that it began with the now-famous image of a massive spaceship looming over a city skyline. Roland Emmerich, the director, recalls explaining the scope of the concept to Dean Devlin, the co-writer and producer, at the latter’s home: “He lived in an area on a hill, so I said, let’s go to the window – all of what you see would be [covered by] the underside of a spaceship. He said, where’s the humor? And I said, there’s a guy knocking out an alien saying ‘welcome to Earth.’ Then we learned that Tim Burton, a director I really admire, was doing Mars Attacks! We knew that m
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According to The Guardian’s linked source, The making of Independence Day at 30: ‘I panicked and raced to set to rewrite’, The makers of the blockbusting sci-fi thriller reveal how they made a hit, why Kevin Spacey was almost involved and what went wrong with the sequel The architects of cinema’s most popular alien invasion have slightly differing accounts of how exactly the original plans for Independence Day came to them. But they both agree that it began with the now-famous image of a massive spaceship looming over a city skyline. Roland Emmerich, the director, recalls explaining the scope of the concept to Dean Devlin, the co-writer and producer, at the latter’s home: “He lived in an area on a hill, so I said, let’s go to the window – all of what you see would be [covered by] the underside of a spaceship. He said, where’s the humor? And I said, there’s a guy knocking out an alien saying ‘welcome to Earth.’ Then we learned that Tim Burton, a director I really admire, was doing Mars Attacks! We knew that m
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The development sits in VINI’s Culture coverage for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the publisher account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The original item is dated 2026-07-03T09:00:25+00:00.
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Primary source: The making of Independence Day at 30: ‘I panicked and raced to set to rewrite’ via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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- The making of Independence Day at 30: ‘I panicked and raced to set to rewrite’The Guardian - 2026-07-03T09:00:25+00:00
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