“Independence Day” directed by Roland Emmerich (Photo by Rick Maiman/Sygma via Getty Images)
I still remember the premiere of Independence Day. It was July 1996 when the film enthralled us en masse, motivated by an advertising campaign that promised us the most brutal alien invasion in cinema history and a title that reflected a declaration of intent. Success crossed borders, revived interest in disaster cinema and turned around Will Smith World star, but above all established its title as a cinematic synonym for every 4th of July in the United States.
However, It probably wouldn’t have left such a deep mark if it weren’t for some covert trick by its creators.
To the director Roland Emmerich The idea came to him during the promotional campaign for Stargate (1994), the science fiction film starring Kurt Russell that explored the theory that extraterrestrial beings were influencing human civilization. In Europe, the lightbulb went on when a journalist asked the Australian director why he designed the plot if he didn’t believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life. Emmerich responded by asking the reporter to imagine what it would be like to wake up one morning to find huge ships hovering over the world’s largest cities. And at that moment he turned to his co-author, Dean Devlin, famously telling him, “I think I have an idea for our next movie” (EW). that’s how he was born independence Day.
They started writing the script and sent it to different studios two months later. The interest was there immediately. Because a day later, they found themselves in the middle of a bitter bidding war, which 20th Century Fox eventually won after being promised a salary of $7.5 million (plus a percentage of the profits) (EW).
The project progressed in leaps and bounds. Emmerich and Devlin recruited Bill Pullman for the role of President of the United States, Jeff Goldblum like a chess genius who predicted the moves of the invaders and Will Smith as a fighter pilot. Within a few days, three concept artists had already drawn the first storyboards with the tentacled aliens.
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And in the meantime, both creators have remained keen to reconcile the title, its cliche-ridden history, and its American patriotism with the Fourth of July. Because Emmerich and Devlin knew that this was the key to their success, as the following anecdote shows.
because as he remembered Dean Devlin told USA Today that some 20th Century Fox executives disagreed with them and they wanted to title it mischief either invasion earth-which we might translate as apocalypse either invasion of earth -. To make matters worse, they found that they had lost interest in a release around July 4th.
As you can imagine, the creators were gripped by fear, knowing how important the title and projected release date were for the film in attracting audiences. But instead of taking over the studio, they thought of a move that ensured the survival of the original plan.
Everyone will remember the President’s famous speech, played by Bill Pullman, as he addressed the soldiers before launching “the greatest air battle in human history” against the alien invasion. At this moment, the coincidence forced by fate is reflected in the fact that this fight takes place precisely on July 4th. “Once again they will fight for our freedom, not against tyranny, oppression or persecution, but against annihilation,” he then proclaimed in a loud voice. “Today we celebrate our Independence Day!”
Undoubtedly the most iconic phrase of the entire film, it is still used today, 27 years after its premiere, by American social network users as a 4th of July celebratory clip. However, it wasn’t part of the original plan and Dean Devlin cleverly embedded it on the day of shooting to convince the studio to stick with the original title.
Not only that. A staffer from the studio’s sales department advised him to create a promotional poster with the title and put it up in the hallways where Rupert Murdoch, the former head of 20th Century Fox, would see it.
“It worked wonderfully and we were able to keep the title”said Devlin to the aforementioned medium. And since Bill Pullman’s sentence highlighted the climax of the story, it would have left no doubt that the title and release date had a direct connection that justified the plan.
Because independence Day It won’t be a film with deep dramatic arcs or Oscar-winning performances (actually, the reviews weren’t kind enough), but we can’t deny that the entire production reflected American celebrations in all their modern pomposity. I’m talking about that cinematic patriotism full of heroic clichés that uses one-liners and military battles as fireworks to create action entertainment that ties into America’s patriotic spirit.
independence Day The official release was on July 3rd in the United States, although forecasts started a day earlier to meet expectations circulating in the environment. And although the story had nothing to do with the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence, the relationship between the title, the date, and the story of planetary salvation, steeped in American patriotism, worked. The film grossed US$50 million on its domestic release and eventually became the world’s highest-grossing film in 1996 with gross grossing of US$814 million.
But what if 20th Century Fox executives got off scot-free? The truth is, if it had been titled “End of the World” or “Earth Invaded,” it’s hard to imagine the same impact. Two apocalyptic titles that sound cheesy and don’t arouse much curiosity. It might have drawn audiences, but it wouldn’t have become the production that would forever be iconic with the most festive side of July 4th.
This article was written exclusively for Yahoo en Español by Cine54.
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