One of Independence Day‘s most iconic scenes, in which the White House is blown up by aliens, was met with criticism by 21th Century Fox when director Roland Emmerich pitched the inclusion of it for a TV ad — and the ad almost wasn’t run.
In an interview with THR, Emmerich along with writer-producer Dean Devlin and star Jeff Goldblum discussed the marketing decision. “One of the things we had early on was the idea of blowing up the White House in a TV ad,” Devlin said. “It was very controversial,” Emmerich added. “I had this idea that the ad is: the second of July, you see the shadows; third of July, you have the fire coming through; Fourth of July, the White House explodes. It was such a simple concept, and Fox hated it.”
“‘You can’t actually blow up the White House in a TV spot,'” Devlin said, quoting the 20th Century Fox liaison that had been in communication with the team. The liaison suggested that due to a bombing that occurred in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, where anti-government extremists detonated an explosive in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing over 150, the scene could be seen as insensitive. “And I said, ‘Yeah, but that wasn’t done by space aliens,'” Devlin stated.
Emmerich went on to explain how they offered to test the TV spot twice — once with the White House scene and once without. A Fox executive liked the exploded White House scene so much that the company decided to air the trailer as the first commercial of 1996’s Super Bowl XXX, in what Emmerich called a “very smart and clever move.”
Goldblum recalled seeing the trailer at a party. “I remember thinking, ‘That’s my movie. I’m in that. Wow, how about that!” I don’t think I was privy to anything they were thinking of or were going to do. That was kind of thrilling.” The trailer grabbed the attention of viewers, launching the film into popular culture discussion. “We were an unknown film up to that point,” Emmerich said. “From that moment, everybody talked about us.”
Independence Day‘s 25 year anniversary arrives on July 4, and the 1996 blockbuster alien film’s legacy still stands strong. Upon its release, the film was a box office success, grossing $817.4 million worldwide — $50.2 million during its opening weekend. The film’s production was not without its flaws, however, with Fox going as far as to try to force co-lead Will Smith out of the film due to his race.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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