"Why hasn't Independence Day gotten a sequel?" This question has been asked for years by fans of the 1996 science fiction action-fest that put Will Smith on the blockbuster summer movie map. Has this question finally been answered by producer Dean Devlin?

Devlin spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the possibility of a sequel and where he and director Roland Emmerich stood in regards to it:

I can tell you that Roland and I have been working together for the first time in 11 years and we’re every excited about the idea of doing it. Whether or not we can make this happen, if we can get all the pieces to come together, that’s gonna be challenging. But creatively, for the very first time since we did the original, I feel we have a worthy concept, a worthy path to go.

"We resisted doing the sequel for years because we still wanted to honor the first one. The first one gave us all careers, and we really love that movie and loved the experience. We didn’t want to make a movie because it was financially a good idea, we only wanted to do it when we had an idea and a concept that creatively felt like it honored the first one -- that it felt like an organic sequel as opposed to ‘let’s just go make some more money.'

"I feel like we got it. I think it took a long time, but I feel like we finally got something that really feels like, 'that’s worth seeing as a sequel to Independence Day.'

Sounds to us like this sequel is going to happen sooner rather than later. Emmerich had previously talked about 'Independence Day 2 & 3' shooting back to back but there hasn't been any update on it until now. Devlin mentioned that they're currently in the process of talking to all of the stars from the first film. Well, the ones that lived anyway.

And what about their other sci-fi classic film 'Stargate?' The Kurt Russell action film was a big hit with science fiction fans and spawned numerous television shows. Will we see a big screen sequel anytime soon?

"Stargate has always had this empty hole. When we made the first one, we always intended on doing part two and three, and we were prevented for years. And our hope is that we can get another chance at Stargate and tell the entire story we wanted to tell."

We're down for that, but only if Kurt Russell returns. Otherwise forget it.

More From ScreenCrush