EXHILARATING’’

IMPRINT CEREMONY ROLAND EMMERICH
JUNE 14, 2016 VARIETY.COM
70
← group of people from all
over the world that have to
unify and band together,
which is the theme in the
first one and even more so
in [“Resurgence”], is dear to
his real, authentic heart.”
The alien invasion hit
grossed more than $817
million worldwide, establishing
Emmerich as Hollywood’s
master of disaster.
“It was a seminal movie,
because all of a sudden people
realized if you have a
certain tone … the movie
had a very big, international
feel to it that was
also something totally new,”
Emmerich says. “But Steven
Spielberg told me and
Dean when we met him
afterwards, ‘this will be
one of the most imitated
movies for the next 20, 30
years.’ And it was, in a way.”
Devlin — who has collaborated
with Emmerich
for 27 years, since they
met on the set of “Moon 44”
— says they approached
“Independence Day” with
the desire to recapture the
action-packed escapism
of such films as “Star Wars”
and “Indiana Jones.”
“I think that there’s a
tendency in blockbusters
today to take themselves
very, very seriously, and
while that’s created some
very compelling content,
it doesn’t quite have that
same joyous feeling,” Devlin
notes, attributing part of
“Independence Day’s”
success to its self-awareness.
“There were a lot of references
in the movie. There’s
a lot of saying to the audience,
‘Hey, this is part of a
type of popcorn movie that
we’ve loved and we’ve forgotten
about. Let’s bring it
back.’”
Growing up in Germany,
Emmerich studied at the
University of Television
and Film Munich, where
he initially intended to
be a production designer.
When discussing his early
career, Emmerich describes
himself as “a little bit of an
odd duck,” who eschewed
the popular style of
German cinema of the time,
which drew its influences
from the French and British
New Wave and Italian neorealism
that was in vogue
across Europe.
Steven Spielberg
told me and Dean,
‘This will be one of the
most imitated movies
for the next 20, 30 years.’
And it was, in a way.”
Roland Emmerich
“I was always looking
to America, and I just
thought the movies were
were more entertaining,
more to my taste,” he says.
“I was relatively strongly
supported at first from
the [German] funding system,
but when they realized
what movies I really
wanted to do, they backed
off, so I had to look for outside
financing.”
Help arrived in the
form of Robert Little, who
owned Overseas Filmgroup,
a worldwide sales and production
company. The shingle
helped finance Emmerich’s
early pictures, allowing
him the autonomy to film
them in English and appeal
to a wider audience.
These days, financing
isn’t a concern for the
multi-hyphenate, whose
films have grossed over
$3 billion worldwide.
“Here’s a filmmaker
that generated franchises,”
says James A. Woods, who
co-wrote the screenplay
for “Resurgence” with
Emmerich, Devlin, and
Nicolas Wright. “This is a
time in cinema where, if
you don’t have a brand,
whether it’s an X-Men or
a Batman or a Transformers
or a Ninja Turtles, it’s
really difficult
to make those big-scale
movies, and Roland was
able to create those, a few
times in his career, which
Pulp Fixation
Dean Devlin, Ellory Elkayem,
and Roland Emmerich on the
set of “Eight Legged Freaks”
in 2002; Emmerich on the set
of “Stargate”
is kind of incredible as a
filmmaker; you’re also a
storyteller who’s generated
franchise-worthy material.
That’s like if Stan Lee was
also Matt Vaughn together
as one human being.”
Despite his success in
the disaster movie genre —
apocalyptic drama “2012”
grossed $769 million worldwide,
second only to “Independence
Day” in his filmography
— it’s telling that
Emmerich’s favorite film is
one of his smallest, both in
budget and gross.
“For the longest time,
‘Anonymous’ was my dream
project,” he says. “It’s so different,
people didn’t even
know that I did it.”
Despite the underwhelming
box office performance
of his smaller films,
Emmerich still intends to
pursue those personal
projects in addition to his
blockbuster crowd-pleasers.
“When you make smaller
pictures, it’s a little bit more
family-oriented,” he says.
“You feel more that you’re
making a movie. These
bigger movies, it’s a little
bit like you’re running a
company.”
Collaborators Sing
Helmer’s Praises
One word that frequently
pops up when discussing
Roland Emmerich is “fun.”
When discussing the
director’s attitude on set,
his colleagues are quick
to praise his enthusiasm,
attention to detail, and
collaborative nature.
Jeff Goldblum
“He’s terrifically prepared
and wildly conscientious.
He’s a force of nature. He’s
an amazing, freakishly
powerful, creative force, but
then he’s fun,” says Goldblum.
“He loves actors and
then he likes to collaborate
with them and create an
atmosphere of trust and
playfulness and improvisation.”
Dean Devlin
Producer Devlin, Emmerich’s
creative partner on
“Stargate” and “Independence
Day,” notes that
Emmerich’s positivity has
stayed consistent throughout
their 27-year working
relationship. “This is a business
that becomes more of
a business all the time, and
many people believe that
unpleasant experiences
make for good movies, and
Roland’s not one of those
guys,” he says. “Working
with Roland is fun, because
his passion becomes infectious,
and then everybody
has it, and it’s a really
unique experience.”
Bill Pullman
In keeping with “Independence
Day’s” theme,
Pullman jokes that Emmerich
is “a little bit of alien
hybridization” too. “Maybe
it’s his Germanic side, which
is about his precision and
his visual aesthetic, married
to him always being kind of
a teenage boy,” he laughs.
“I love it most on set when
he’s describing what you’re
seeing — he always says,
‘and then this comes, and
it’s really cool.’ Just the way
he says ‘cool,’ it means a
lot more than anybody else
saying it.”
EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS: WARNER BROS/PHOTOFEST; STARGATE: CLAUDETTE BARIUS/MGM/PHOTOFEST