Is will smith in the independence day movie movie#
‘Universal people are calling every day, so give me these two actors or I move over there.’ I don’t think it would have been a possibility, but it was a great threat.”Īt the time of its release, “Independence Day” not only grossed $817 million worldwide, but it became the highest-grossing film of 1996 and the second highest-grossing movie in film history worldwide, falling only behind Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park”. “It was pretty shortly before the shoot and we still hadn’t locked in Will and Jeff,” Emmerich concluded. Steven Hiller Bill Pullman President Thomas J. RELATED: Will Smith And Kevin Hart To Host ‘Red Table Talk’ Father’s Day Special Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing Independence Day (1996) near you. It’s going to do fine foreign.’ It was a big war, and Roland really stood up for - and we ultimately won that war.”
There is violence, smoking, and language. ’ Our argument was, ‘Well, the movie is about space aliens. : Independence Day 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray : Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman. This is a very good movie and a perfect movie for people who like will smith. ’”ĭevlin added, “They said, ‘You cast a Black guy in this part, you’re going to kill foreign. The studio said, ‘No, we don’t like Will Smith. “It was pretty clear it had to be Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum. “Ethan Hawke was on our list too, but I thought at that time he was too young,” Emmerich said. RELATED: Will Smith Opening Up, Releasing Memoir ‘Will’ In November While celebrating the hit film’s 25th anniversary this year, director Roland Emmerich and producer-writer Dean Devlin joined The Hollywood Reporter for an oral history of the movie, revealing they fought hard with the studios to cast Will Smith alongside Jeff Goldblum.īut despite the constant pushback from Fox, Emmerich and Devlin ultimately got Smith in the film. If 20th Century Fox had it their way, “Independence Day” could have looked a lot different. The film went on to gross $US817 million dollars at the box office - the second highest grossing film at the time behind Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.Will Smith in "Independence Day" - Photo: CPImages “I don’t think it would have been a possibility (to actually move studios), but it was a great threat.” “It was a big war, and Roland really stood up for - and we ultimately won that war,” Devlin said.
Speaking on the 25th anniversary of the flick, Devlin and Emmerich recalled they waged a “war” with the studio execs, even threatening to pull the film from 20th Century Fox and give it to Universal Studios. “Our argument was, ‘Well, the movie is about space aliens. “They said, ‘You cast a Black guy in this part, you’re going to kill foreign (box office),’” Devlin added. He doesn’t work in international (markets).’” “The studio said, ‘No, we don’t like Will Smith. The year after the release of Independence Day, Smith co-starred with Oscar-winning Tommy Lee Jones in the sci-fi comedy Men in Black that also became a multi-film franchise.
“It was pretty clear it had to be Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum,” Emmerich said of the casting. This July 4th weekend will not only mark the 245th birthday of the United States, but also the 25th anniversary of the blockbuster movie Independence Day. In 1995, he co-starred with Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys, the cop movie that grossed 65 billion at the box office, according to IMDB, and became a successful film franchise. Thankfully, for Emmerich, Smith, and 'Independence Day,' 20th Century Fox was eventually convinced, and the movie proceeded with Smith in the lead role.