After 16 years of bad blood between Roland Emmerich and the building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the man and the large inanimate object might be reconciling their differences. Emmerich famously blew the White House up in Independence Day, but he’s looking to protect it at all costs for White House Down.
According to Deadline, the action drama which was sold as Die Hard-like to Sony was written by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Losers, The Amazing Spider-Man, Total Recall). The story focuses on a paramilitary take down of the Presidential residence and workspace, which seems exactly as high concept as Emmerich can stand. Although since it seems like the action would be confined to a singular space, wouldn’t The Raid’s Gareth Evans be a much cooler choice here?
The big question here is where this fits in his directing timeline. Granted, he hasn’t signed on yet, but there are theoretically two Independence Day sequels in the works as well as the Asteroids adaptation. It seems likely that with the $3m Sony paid for this spec, and with the money that Emmerich can command, it seems clear that the studio is making a big move here so have some popcorn ready.
Related Topics: Action
