‘Independence Day’ Director Aiming for Another Alien-Invasion Hit With ‘Emergence’?

Director Roland Emmerich likes to destroy the world, so it's no surprise that he's bought the rights to a new alien-invasion pitch titled 'Emergence.' After all, how could the director of 'Independence Day,' 'The Day After Tomorrow' and '2012' say no to what's described as a "large-scale, contemporary science-fiction film"? Large scale? That means Emmerich will be able to do what he does best: wipe out entire cities. Again.

This news, coming from Deadline, is especially interesting since there have been rumblings in the past few months about 'Independence Day' sequels, which have us wondering exactly what Emmerich plans to do with 'Emergence.' Option one: he'll make 'Emergence' before or after those long-in-development 'Independence Day' movies. Option two: he's bought the rights to 'Emergence' so he can have its core concepts rewritten into an 'Independence Day' sequel (which happens in Hollywood more than you'd think). Option three: those 'Independence Day' movies have been put on the back burner, and Emmerich plans to scratch his alien-invasion itch anyway.

That's a lot of guesswork and not a lot of facts. After all, the only thing we know is that there's an alien-invasion script in the works titled 'Emergence' and that it'll feature "hot-button science elements." Still, any news of a new science-fiction movie is enough to get our interest piqued and to be completely honest, an original alien-invasion movie sounds far more enticing than an 'Independence Day 2.'

Emmerich's next film, 'White House Down,' opens on June 28.