Claim: Independence Day: Resurgence is a 2016 film.

Independence Day : Resurgence is a 2016 American science fiction film written and directed by Roland Emmerich with co-writers Dean Devlin , Nicolas Wright , James A. Woods , and James Vanderbilt . As sequel to the 1996 film Independence Day , it stars an ensemble cast featuring Liam Hemsworth , Jeff Goldblum , Bill Pullman , Maika Monroe , Jessie Usher , Travis Tope , William Fichtner , Charlotte Gainsbourg , Judd Hirsch , Brent Spiner and Sela Ward .   The film takes place twenty years after the events of the first film , during which the United Nations has collaborated to form Earth Space Defense -LRB- ESD -RRB- , an international military defense and research organization . Through reverse engineering , the world has harnessed the power of alien technology and laid the groundwork to resist a second invasion .   Plans for a sequel to Independence Day began as early as 2001 , with 20th Century Fox eventually green-lighting the project in 2014 . Principal photography began in April 2015 at locations primarily in New Mexico but also in the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah , which were featured in the original . Independence Day : Resurgence was released in the United States on June 24 , 2016 , in 2D , 3D , and IMAX 3D , grossing $ 389.7 million worldwide at the box office . The film received generally unfavorable reviews from critics , who found the plot convoluted and action sequences overblown , though some praised its overall humor .