If you notice a shadow blocking out the sunlight this week, it’s because “Independence Day: Resurgence,” the long… awaited sequel to the 1996 alien-battling blockbuster, is finally arriving in theaters. If it seems like there’s a slight lack of buzz, it might be because 20th Century Fox, in a near unprecedented move for a film of this size, aren’t screening the film until after it opens for paying audiences. But to fill the vacuum, the film has Roland Emmerich, who has a… colorful approach to press interviews.
In a new interview with The Guardian (via Uproxx), Emmerich delights in how his new movie “dumps Asia on Europe,” says that his last film “Stonewall” “got killed by one voice on the internet who saw a trailer and said this is whitewashing Stonewall. Stonewall was a white event, let’s be honest. But nobody wanted to hear that any more,” and talks about how “I’ve always been fascinated by size.
But things get really interesting when Emmerich gets onto the subject of the franchising of Hollywood, which Emmerich can claim some credit for thanks to the megahit of “Independence Day.” “When you look at the clothing industry,” Emmerich says, “where are the little boutiques? Yeah, they are still there but in very small numbers. Everything else is big franchises, like Gap. Every fashion brand has to become a franchise or they will not survive.”
Emmerich draws a historical comparison at this point. “At some point, it could collapse. It did once in the 60s. All the studio productions failed one after the other, then a small movie like Easy Rider was the biggest hit of the year. That could happen again.” He then seems to express regret for being pigeonholed as a spectacle-wrangler, before dissing the biggest spectacle out there.
“When you look at my movies, it’s always the regular Joe Schmo that’s the unlikely hero,” he says, seemingly forgetting that the President of the United States was the co-lead of “Independence Day.” “A lot of Marvel movies, they show people in funny suits running around. I don’t like people in capes. I find it silly when someone dons a superhero suit and flies. I don’t understand it. I grew up in Germany, that’s probably why.”
Ouch. We’ll see if Emmerich has the right to throw stones, or if he’s doing it from within a glass house, when “Independence Day: Resurgence” opens on Thursday night.