Over the past two years or so, there’s been talk of not one but two sequels to Roland Emmerich’s awesome 1996 sci-fi blockbuster, Independence Day, all of which you can catch up on here.

Details about the plot specifics have been kept pretty tightly under wraps, but some interesting details about the project itself have now arisen.

Emmerich spoke to The Lantern this week and it sounds like things are moving forward with the project, and even that we could start to see some concrete traction being made sooner rather than later.

“I’d say hold tight… It’s happening soon.”

Emmerich and his old frequent writing collaborator, Dean Devlin (Independence Day, Godzilla, Stargate), have been working on the scripts and Emmerich is working on rounding up the original cast, which included Will Smith, Bill Pullman, and Jeff Goldblum, all brilliant actors and brilliant in their roles in the first film.

In their report, Collider say that the scripts for both the second and third films in what will become the Independence Day trilogy have been written, but whether or not they’re entirely finished or just semi-fleshed skeletons is unclear in light of Emmerich’s interview earlier this week.

Interestingly, however, they note that Will Smith is asking for somewhere in the range of $50m. to star in both films, which is a pretty high asking price. However, given that the first film made north of $800m., and that was fifteen years ago, unadjusted for inflation, it wouldn’t be too hard a stretch to believe that the two films together would make over a billion dollars between them. And when you consider the plan is to shoot them back-to-back, thus bringing down the budget, Smith’s price tag is probably not an unreasonable percentage of the profits the films will likely go on to make, even if that initial $50m. figure does sound very high.

Though plot details are being kept hush hush, it is thought that despite being filmed back-to-back, the two films will work as standalone films in their own right, linked through a cliffhanger and an overarching plot between them. So whilst the details aren’t especially informative right now, it sounds like the project to bring a second and third film to the big screen is still very much alive.

I love the first film so much, and I’m hoping that if these two do get made, then by the time the third one rolls around, cinemas will offer a six-/seven-hour epic showing of all three films, start-to-finish. Until then, I’ll leave you with this inspirational speech from the first film by Bill Pullman. It’s one of my all-time favourite film speeches that just raises the hairs down my spine no matter how many times I hear it.

“We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We’re going to live on. We’re going to survive. Today, we celebrate our Independence Day.”

Cue ridiculously incredible triumphant film score. Enjoy. Be inspired.

To be or not to be, that is certainly the subjective question of whether director Roland Emmerich’s new film will excite or disgust. Indeed, with the covering of one of our greatest playwright’s names in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon in protest of Anonymous, William Shakespeare might be thrilled at the reignited interest in him.

In writer John Orloff and Emmerich’s version of Elizabethan events, the playwright (played by Rafe Spall) is actually an illiterate fool, a scheming charlatan who grabs the opportunity for easy fame – and to make money (it could be argued, like a former-day version of a reality TV contestant) – by laying claim to a series of plays written by Anonymous that delight the crowds at the local theatre. Unbeknown to all, these were actually penned by Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans), to silence ‘the voices’ in his head. But as a member of the Royal Court, he is unable to be open about his creativity, or face disgrace. Meanwhile, the English throne, headed by theatre-loving Elizabeth I (played by both Joely Richardson and her real-life mother Vanessa Redgrave), is being manipulated by the Cecil Family of father William (David Thewlis) and later, by his son, Robert (Edward Hogg), so that a Scottish successor can take over.

Depending on how much you hold the bard dear to your heart, what must not be forgotten is this is an entertaining piece of imaginary work in itself – as suggested by the opening prologue by Derek Jacobi. The fact that there has always been speculation about the origins of Shakespeare’s works only goes to fuel how fitting the mystery is for cinematic purposes. Everyone likes to question history’s great mysteries when there is an ounce of doubt, from who shot JFK to the death of Princess Diana. So, without sounding flippant, the emphasis here is on ‘imaginary work’, and the film-makers certainly grab our attention.

This film is equally about the Royal Court power struggles, as it is the Shakespeare parts, and it is the former that is the film’s true momentum – not whether aristocrat de Vere will be found out. Hence, if period-based deception, temptation and pure decadence appeal, Emmerich’s rich ‘Old Masters’-style cinematography and sumptuous settings – some of which scream CGI at times – are a delight to behold.

Nevertheless, any upset at the ‘raw deal’ Shakespeare is getting in this, is not the question mark over the plays’ true author, but how the film-makers portray our great bard as an utter clown. Spall is certainly amusing, raising sniggers and having a ball in the role – if only employed to make Ifans look wise and credible as De Vere. But some might feel a little perturbed in the scene when Shakespeare asks De Vere whether ‘published’ means ‘in a book’? That said comedy makes a fool out of anyone, and this scene is little more ‘offensive’ than a TV comedy sketch, in all honesty, with Spall as Shakespeare as a parody of one of his own literary fools that provide the comical aspect in often a turbulent time.

These moments are also counterbalanced by the film’s celebration of the works in general, and there are some magical re-enactments of The Rose and The Globe theatres that make you yearn for a good Shakespearean evening out. The other delight is watching fine British acting at play, and the added surprise of Ifans in a serious role as De Vere that makes for a rousing spectacle, not too deft as to be unfitting for the whole gay affair, but with just enough deadpan theatrics to yet again remind you that you are watching a well-directed and staged interpretation of the reality.

Without going down the long, arduous road of comparing historical facts to add to the scholarly and fan-based denouncement of Anonymous, there are some extraordinary claims made that don’t add up after researching the characters. However, as we are prompted in the film’s lines to place our trust in the power of the words – these being merely another opinion to add to the rest of history’s sceptics, the overall sentiment after watching this is one of awe of the work in question, and that can only be a good thing.

***~~ (3/5)

Billed as a political thriller in tights Roland Emmerich is taking a step back from blowing up worlds to blowing our minds as he sets out the premise that Shakespeare not only never wrote any of the plays credited to him, but also never existed. Blimey.

Anonymous has an exceptional cast in Rhys Ifans, Xavier Samuel, Jamie Campbell Bower, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi and Rafe Spall, and is set for release on the 28th of October, at the close of the London Film Festival where eager London bound film fans will be able to see the film a little early.

The clip below, lovingly laid at our feet by the Duke of Yahoo, was one we saw recently at the Big Screen event and it didn’t blow our codpiece off I have to say. The period detail certainly evokes the spirit of the age but the film had a very po-faced tone, something that I’m fairly confident will be balanced out in the final film.

Here’s the clip,

I’ve got some good and bad news for you people. The sort of good news is that if you’re a fan of Rhys Ifans or maybe director Roland Emmerich, we have a new trailer for you for their new movie, Anonymous. The bad news is that we got to see two new clips from the movie at Big Screen over the weekend and it looked completely dull and boring. Jon, Craig and myself sat through 15 minutes of the movie and couldn’t wait for it to end, in fact I cheered when it did! The other bit of good news is that the movie did look visually amazing. If you’re a fan of costume or set design then this is very much going to be a movie that you’re going to live, if however you want a thrilling story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, then this probably isn’t it*! You can see our live blog from the Sony panel where we saw the clips here. Sorry if we didn’t complete it, Jon (who was typing it up) may well have nodded off!

Anonymous stars Rhys Ifans​​, Xavier Samuel​​, Jamie Campbell Bower​​, Joely Richardson​​, David Thewlis, Vanessa Redgrave​​, Derek Jacobi​​, Rafe Spall​​ and Edward Hogg.

Synopsis: Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England​​, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain​​ and Charles Dickens to Henry James and Sigmund Freud​​, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare​​ ? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

This new trailer is pretty much the same as the second US version but in a slightly different order. It does however contain a bit of new footage. Check it out below and try to stay awake!

Anonymous is out in the UK 28th October.

*I might be wrong!

Source: Sky Movies

Here’s the second trailer for Roland Emmerich’s new movie, Anonymous which we’ll get here in the UK 28th October.
Anonymous stars Rhys Ifans​, Xavier Samuel​, Jamie Campbell Bower​, Joely Richardson​, David Thewlis, Vanessa Redgrave​, Derek Jacobi​, Rafe Spall​, Edward Hogg and is set for release 30th September in the US and we assume around then too in the UK.

Anonymous is helmed by CGI disaster movie legend, Roland Emmerich and this time it would appear that he’s taken to period dramas?! The man famed for directing movies like Independence Day, Star Gate, The Day After Tomorrow​ and 2012 has gone all old school on us but it’s surely going to contain mountain loads of computer processing power somewhere isn’t it?!

Synopsis: Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England​, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain​ and Charles Dickens to Henry James and Sigmund Freud​, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare​? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

Source: Latino Review

It’s not clear exactly how the world will end in Roland Emmerich’s next film, based on the much argued notion that Shakespeare was not the author of the works attributed to him, but the idea of a Tudor apocalypse seems quite appealing really.

However it is not this film (which is called Anonymous – see the marvellous trailer here), but Emmerich’s next that we are concenred with today and THR are placing the director’s next project, entitled Singularity, with Sony’s Columbia Pictures. The studio have a long standing understanding with Emmerich: every few years he dreams up a new way of ending the world and Sony stump up the cash.

Coming Soon have confirmed that May the 17th 2013 will be the release date for the film and there are no details at all confirmed, except that Emmerich has written the script himself and the man is fond of a barnstorming end of days so perhaps that’s on the cards this time?

Its title may change however to avoid a clash with the forthcoming time travelling romance film from Roland Joffe called, obviously, Singularity.

Sony Pictures have released a couple of new images from the Roland Emmerich movie, Anonymous which I still find very odd seeing after his previous works!

Anonymous stars Rhys Ifans, Xavier Samuel, Jamie Campbell Bower, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, Rafe Spall, Edward Hogg and is set for release 30th September in the US and UK.

Anonymous is helmed by CGI disaster movie legend, Roland Emmerich and this time it would appear that he’s taken to period dramas?! The man famed for directing movies like Independence Day, Star Gate, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 has gone all old school on us but it’s surely going to contain mountain loads of computer processing power somewhere isn’t it?!

Synopsis: Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain and Charles Dickens to Henry James and Sigmund Freud, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

If you’ve not seen the trailer for the movie, you can view it here.

We’ve already seen the trailer for Roland Emmerich’s latest movie, Anonymous but now we get to see the first poster for the movie which was released by Columbia Pictures last night. It asks the question, ‘Was Shakespeare a Fraud?’.

Anonymous stars Rhys Ifans, Xavier Samuel, Jamie Campbell Bower, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, Rafe Spall, Edward Hogg and is set for release 30th September in the US and we assume around then too in the UK.

Anonymous is helmed by CGI disaster movie legend, Roland Emmerich and this time it would appear that he’s taken to period dramas?! The man famed for directing movies like Independence Day, Star Gate, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 has gone all old school on us but it’s surely going to contain mountain loads of computer processing power somewhere isn’t it?!

Synopsis: Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain and Charles Dickens to Henry James and Sigmund Freud, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage

Source: ComingSoon

What feels like forever ago we put up the first image for Roland Emmerich’s new movie, Anonymous. Looking back, it was actually this year on January 6th to be precise. The film stars Rhys Ifans, Xavier Samuel, Jamie Campbell Bower, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, Rafe Spall, Edward Hogg and is set for release 30th September in the US and we assume around then too in the UK.

Anonymous is helmed by CGI disaster movie legend, Roland Emmerich and this time it would appear that he’s taken to period dramas?! The man famed for directing movies like Independence Day, Star Gate, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 has gone all old school on us but it’s surely going to contain mountain loads of computer processing power somewhere isn’t it?!

Synopsis: Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain and Charles Dickens to Henry James and Sigmund Freud, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

Check out the trailer below which comes via the fine folk at Yahoo.

Columbia Pictures (via our friends at FirstShowing) have released the first image from their new movie, Anonymous which gives us our first looks at Rhys Ifans as Edward de Vere. Anonymous is helmed by CGI disaster movie legend, Roland Emmerich and this time it would appear that he’s taken to period dramas?! The man famed for directing movies like Independence Day, Star Gate, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 has gone all old school on us but it’s surely going to contain mountain loads of computer processing power somewhere isn’t it?!

Synopsis: Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain and Charles Dickens to Henry James and Sigmund Freud, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

Anonymous also stars Xavier Samuel, Jamie Campbell Bower, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, Rafe Spall, Edward Hogg and is set for release 30th September in the US and we assume around then too in the UK.

Click the image to enlarge.

Roland Emmerich (2012) is in pre-production on The Zone, a found-footage film revolving around an alien invasion, set to be improv-based and cast with relative unknowns.

Sony, who will distribute the film as a negative pick-up, have confirmed a $5M budget, which is considerately less that what Emmerich’s films usually cost.

The Zone comes from a screenplay penned by Guillaume Tunzini. No other details are known, other than the casting of two leads, one playing the central journalist, while the other will portray the cameraman.

The Zone is expected to film in mid-November.

THR reported this one.

Rumours have been circulating of a sequel to Independence Day for as long as I can remember. I recall talk of a sequel for the new millennium, tentatively titled “ID2000″, which obviously never materialised.

Director Roland Emmerich, who since ID4 has continued to find new and exciting ways to destroy the planet (The Day After Tomorrow, 2012) spoke with MTV back in February, but it is only now that what he said has been released. Our friends at AICN describe his comments as follows:-

“It’s an alternate reality kind of movie,” he said. “We pick up the story, what would have happened after this kind of attack? Naturally, the alien technology has changed everything.”

Did they rebuild the White House? Who will be president?

“Or, who will be president?” Emmerich answered. “Who will be president? See?”

He’d just dropped us a none-too-subtle clue with that drawn out “will,” and the implication was clear: Will Smith, the fighter jet-flying hero of the 1996 film, at some point became commander-in-chief after the attacks. Whether he remains Mr. President during the course of the sequels or is eventually elected during the new films is an open question.

Another element of the idea for a sequel is that we Earthlings have incorporated all sorts of left-behind alien technology into our own military hardware, making us a much more difficult prospect for the alien invaders second time around.

Obviously, this remains filed under “wild speculation” for the time being, but it is intriguing to know that Emmerich has ideas in mind. What do you think? Fancy another crack at the slimy, tentacled invaders, or have we had enough? As always, comment below.

At Comic-Con this past weekend, Warner Bros. Pictures took the opportunity to introduce audience members to the new and improved Godzilla. Attendees were not only treated to a T-shirt with the new image of Godzilla, but they were able to see a superimposed animation of Godzilla breathing fire, complete with his trademark roar.

The newly designed Godzilla was created by Talking Dog Studios and is to be used in Warner Bros. Pictures’ re-boot of the franchise, tentatively set to be released in 2012. At present, no director or cast are attached.

It’ll be interesting to see what Warner Bros. Pictures do this time, and if they learn from the mistakes made by Roland Emmerich in his 1998 film version. Expect more details to be released once this film enters production.

Check out the images of the newly re-vitalised Godzilla below, courtesy of Comingsoon:

And if you’re wondering what that symbol in the top corner is, let Bleeding Cool show you way…

In November last year we wrote up the story that Destroyer of Worlds Roland Emmerich was talking up two sequels to his 1996 alien face off movie Independence Day.

Now the good guys at IESB are reporting the rumour that Will Smith has signed on to star in the two films, and that the two films could shoot back to back as early as 2011.

Getting Smith back on board would guarantee that Fox would greenlight ID4 Parts 2 and 3, and in the fifteen or so years since the original film the CGI technology has improved so much that we are certain to see a whole lot more of Emmerich’s epic destruction as shown in 2012.

There will surely be alien homeworlds, and enormous motherships descending once again, and I’d personally like to see Emmerich return to the scarred world of ID4 fifteen years after, and give us a proper post-apocalyptic tale (with plucky dogs).

I enjoyed Emmerich’s recent 2012 for all its CG bombast and silliness, and the news last night that Godzilla is about to roar back onto our screens now seems the perfect time for Emmerich and Dean Devlin to return to the film which made their names.

What do you think? Are you keen to see another Independence Day?

Not even Ferris Bueller could save the 1998 version of Godzilla for me. It was as slow and ponderous as the eponymous creature and Roland Emmerich’s vision was not able to capture the atomic majesty of the Showa series, and despite its box office takings it remains a vapid revision of the monster.

But hey! Let’s no worry about all that now – Bloody Disgusting reported a while ago that Legendary Pictures were talking up a new film, and today Heat Vision confirmed this, there will be another Godzilla film, scheduled for a 2012 release.

In this post Cloverfield world Warner Bros, who are partnering with Legendary, will need to bring something more than a massive monster tearing New York a new Hudson, and though Godzilla is an iconic creature whose reach spans across numerous media I’m hoping that producers Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Brian Rogers have something special in mind for this latest revision.

Thomas Tull, chairman and CEO of Legendary spoke these words,

Godzilla is one of the world’s most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be able to create a modern epic based on this long-loved Toho franchise…Our plans are to produce the Godzilla that we, as fans, would want to see. We intend to do justice to those essential elements that have allowed this character to remain as pop culturally relevant for as long as it has.

And those essential elements are…? He’s fought off armies, UFOs, Mothra, Mecha-Godzilla, Three Headed Monsters, Sea Monsters and King Kong – who’s next? Personally I can do without another Godzilla film but you can bet that your local IMAX is being prepped in anticipation for the giant stompy one to roar one more time.

Dave has written an extensive review of the film here, and I’ll concentrate on the Blu-ray experience here after giving my brief thoughts on the film.

Roland Emmerich has made his name with various apocalypses, be it aliens in Independence Day, Godzilla stomping its way through Manhattan, death by frostbite in The Day After Tomorrow and now 2012 tops them all.

We all die, and in the middle of the end of the world he finds time to shoehorn in the estranged families and heroic canine rescue tropes we know and endure. With 2012 he has achieved his goal; he has become Death, the destroyer of worlds.

Technology plays a huge part on the effectiveness of his catastrophes, with the model work of Independence Day giving way to the obliteration of the White House in 2012 by the JFK aircraft carrier – just one of the moderately sized set pieces which his CGI team throw our way. On Blu-ray it looks incredible, and the enhanced resolution allows the busy annihilation of the cities to be rendered in great detail.

I was able to watch as the helpless and hapless meet their maker in a cornucopia of carnage, with tiny buildings crumbling and miniature explosions populating the epic destruction. If you are going to see this one, and you have the hardware, then Blu-ray is the way to go.

Most film benefit from HD, 2012 practically necessitates it. The only reason to see this film is to watch the world ending in glorious Doom-o-vision and the scale of the devastation means that much of the detail is lost, particularly on a smaller screen. There is nothing in the characters which will engage; dialogue and narrative in Emmerich’s films often play second fiddle to the visuals and bombast but here the collection of plucky souls and stereotypes lack any engagement at all, and so we are left with a beautiful, hollow spectacle.

The Blu-ray extras are outstanding. If you want to see Roland Emmerich talk his way through the film, complete with storyboards and pre-vis pop outs, then you’re in luck with a Picture in Picture mode which is an enjoyable, if slightly geeky, way to watch the film.

As with most of Sony’s releases the Blu-ray incorporates the BD-Live service with MovieIQ functionality, meaning you can get all the info on the cast and crew as well as learning exactly when and where the world will end (I made that bit up).

2012 is a very long and silly film, but it has been polished up very nicely and looks great in HD, although this polish won’t help you enjoy the ridiculous nature characters and the cinematic lethargy which plagues the film, but if your idea of a good time is to watch billions suffer and die in the company of John Cusack then this, truly, is the film for you.

Here’s a HD trailer to get you in the mood.

2012 comes to Blu-ray and DVD on the 29th of March and here are the extras you can expect on the Blu-ray.

• Picture-In-Picture: Roland’s Vision-Includes Pre-Visualization, storyboards and behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with filmmakers, cast and crew
• Commentary with Writer/Director Roland Emmerich and Co-Writer Harald Kloser
• Deleted Scenes
• Interactive Mayan Calendar – Enter a date to reveal your horoscope and personality profile! Delve even further into the secrets by watching Mysteries of the Mayan Calendar
• ‘A very silly, but with less Pull-Ups’ Alternate Ending
• Designing The End Of The World – an excellent SFX documentary looking into key scenes in the film.
• Roland Emmerich: The Master of the Modern Epic
• Science Behind The Destruction
• The End Of The World: The Actor’s Perspective
• movieIQ and BD-Live connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the movie!

You can purchase 2012 on Blu Ray here.

What is it about total carnage that sends people to the theater in droves?  I’m totally guilty of this as well, but I’m wondering what exactly it is about disaster movies that make them so awesome (and by “awesome” I mean, totally cheesy, silly fun).

Disaster movies while not high quality, will normally have really good visual effects.  At least I hope they do, because let’s face it, the visuals are normally the one great thing they have going for them.  I don’t mean to harp on all disaster movies, but if I’m being honest, a lot of them are mainly eye candy.

I use the term “Disaster Movie” pretty loosely.  I may mention a movie that isn’t so much a “disaster”, but does have a fair amount of destruction to the world. There are different genres if you will.  The outside influence disasters (i.e. Aliens, asteroids, etc.), the natural disasters (tornadoes, effects of global warming, volcanoes etc.), and we can’t forget the Mayan prophecy disasters.

Take Independence Day for example.  This falls under the “Outside Influence” category.  Mainly it was about the human race trying to survive an invasion of aliens who want to harvest our planet for it’s natural resources.  Along the way they blow up good portions of Mother Earth.  They blew up the White House.  THE WHITE HOUSE!  This is neither a visual I have; nor think is actually going to happen.  You don’t blow up the White House.  You just don’t.  But seeing it in a movie, that’s different.  The aliens also blew up Manhattan. And Los Angeles.  Of course the human race prevails but now there is a worldwide mess to clean up.  On the plus side, the clean up will create jobs, and that’s always a good thing.

Armageddon and Deep Impact handled the meteor/asteroid category.  I’ve seen Armageddon loads of time but have only seen Deep Impact once.  While Armageddon left me amped and excited and spun up, Deep Impact left me morose.  I’m sure the ending had something to do with that.  In Armageddon, we saw the destruction of Paris and the South Pacific.  The shot of Paris after the asteroid hit, was a bit of bummer.  Nothing like having a HUGE crater where Paris used to be.  From what I remember, the real destruction in Deep Impact came at the very end with the huge wave.  I don’t remember seeing much damage through out the rest of the film.  If I’m missing something, let me know.

The “natural disasters” category is pretty much shored up with Twister, Volcano and The Day After Tomorrow.

While there aren’t really any major landmarks in Twister, the scene that takes place at the drive-in alone makes it worthy.  What’s great about Twister (yes, believe it or not, there is something great about it) is if you watch it at home with a good surround sound system, you can hear the dialogue from the drive in movie.  If you remember the film playing at the drive in is The Shining.  Right before the twister hits, it’s at the part where Danny encounters the twins.  You can hear the twins dialogue.  Creepy.  The other great thing is that the tornadoes were so….menacing.  It seemed they were gunning for the chasers. I like it when my natural disasters have personality.

With Volcano, the coast is toast.  Well that’s what they promised anyway.  Really, it’s just parts of L.A. that get fried.  Volcano is by and large one of the most ridiculous disaster movies out there.  The dialogue is bad, the acting isn’t great, but for some reason, I feel the need to watch a least a little bit of it when it’s on.  At least to hear Anne Heche scream “LAVA BOMBS!”. Is there a line of dialogue that is more saturated with cheese than that?  I think not.

And then there is The Day After Tomorrow.  This is not to be confused with The Day After (the nuclear war/fallout movie that scared the crap out of every kid back in 1983 when it aired on TV).  The Day After Tomorrow just shows destruction everywhere.  The scene that got me was when the wave came crashing over the Statue of Liberty.  Now, I’ve never seen Lady Liberty in person, but I’ve heard she’s pretty tall, and the thought of a wave that big, creeps me out.  Not to mention absolutely annihilating the iconic Capitol Records building in L.A. Poor L.A.  Seems disaster movies have it out for sunny Southern California.  I actually really enjoyed TDAT.  What I didn’t like is that it left me feeling cold.  Literally, not figuratively.  I need to take a jacket when I see “icy” movies. BRRRR!

As far as the Mayan prophecy disaster movie, we all know it’s 2012.  I haven’t seen this one yet unfortunately.  I will have to wait for Blu-Ray since it’s already come and gone from the theaters here.  But just what I saw in the previews is enough to make me want to see it.  From what I could tell, this movie takes out Las Vegas, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, and the White House.  Again with the White House.  This time it gets taken out by a wave and an air craft carrier….the USS John F. Kennedy no less.  I guess if you’re going to obliterate the same landmark in different films you have to do it different ways.  Can’t let destruction get stale and boring.

I realize that 3 of the films here are all done by Roland Emmerich.  Man sure does like his destruction.  But he does it with flare, and that’s what’s important.  If you’re going to decimate, do it with style.

Discuss: what is your favorite destruction scene?  Is there something you’d like to see that hasn’t been done yet?  Let us know!

Disaster struck at the box office this weekend, again and again.

Roland Emmerich’s CG-heavy apocalypse movie 2012 starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet had a huge opening weekend in the US and abroad, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Balancing its $200 million budget with its US earnings of $65 million and the foreign box office of $160 million will please Sony who claim that 2012 opened top of each of the markets it played.

While not entirely surprising this success can only lead to other, similar successes and we can expect all manner of digital disasters coming our way, and this certainly will be good news for those looking forward to 2013, the proposed TV sequel and also the expected Independence Day sequels Emmerich recently discussed.

According to the Reporter Sony distribution president Rory Bruer said, “I felt the Earth move…Audiences responded to the amazing images they were seeing throughout the film’s campaign. This movie really did raise the bar, even for Roland Emmerich.”

To coincide with the release of Roland Emmerich’s 2012, which is in UK cinemas NOW, Columbia Pictures have released a new featurette based around the volcanic eruption in Yellowstone Park. I’ve embedded the featurette below or head over to Yahoo to view in HD.

2012 stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt and Thandie Newton.

Synopsis: Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. 2012 is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.

Fresh from destroying the world in 2012 it seems Roland Emmerich can’t keep away from finding new ways to put the world in peril.

Almost exactly a month ago we reported on Emmerich’s desire to make a sequel to his 1996 Earth vs. Aliens epic Independence Day, a film that was all about the boom and didn’t suffer from an appalling Bill Pullman presidential rallying cry or that bit with the dog – you know what I mean.

Now MTV movies blog have caught up with Emmerich and a few more details have emerged about The Day After Independence Day (a sure title, right?), chiefly the news that the director is planning two sequels based years after the aliens were defeated with a Mac and a Nuclear weapon.

Click here to read the article and marvel at Emmerich’s determination to find new and exciting ways to kill us all.

Two more Independence Day films? If it turns out that the Mayans were right maybe 2012 won’t be so bad after all…