On July 2, 1996, an extraterrestrial mothership enters Earth's orbit and deploys saucers (each 15 mi (24 km) in diameter) over major cities worldwide, including See more

Development
The idea for the film came when Emmerich and Devlin were in Europe promoting their film Stargate in 1994. A reporter asked Emmerich why he … See more

Theatrical
While Independence Day was still in post-production, Fox began an expensive marketing campaign to help promote the film, beginning with … See more

Books
Author Stephen Molstad wrote a tie-in novel to help promote the film shortly before its release. The novel goes into further detail on the characters, situations, and overall concepts not explored in the film. The novel … See more

• Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller, a Marine F/A-18 pilot squadron leader with the Black Knight squadron at MCAS El Toro and aspiring astronaut. The role was originally offered to See more

Box office
Independence Day was the highest-grossing film of 1996, surpassing both Twister See more

In June 2011, Devlin confirmed that he and Emmerich had written a treatment for two sequels to form a trilogy; both expressed the desire for See more