The alien invasion movie Independence Day starring Will Smith has become a cult classic since its 1996 release. Vivica A. Fox was part of the original ID cast, and she reprised her role as Jasmine Dubrow in the sequel.
2016’s Independence Day: Resurgence didn’t have the same cultural impact or box office success as its predecessor. The Roland Emmerich-directed motion picture also failed to impress professional film critics.
In a recent interview with The A.V. Club, Fox admitted Resurgence fell short of recapturing the magic of Independence Day. The veteran actress expressed the absence of Will Smith hurt the second installment in the franchise.
“I just didn’t feel like it was good and lived up to the first one,” she said. “I really feel we missed out by not bringing Will Smith back. We got most of the original cast, but I think the one true link that was missing to the success of Independence Day 2 was that Will Smith wasn’t there.”
Fox went on to say she entered the Independence Day: Resurgence premiere with concerns about how ID fans would react to part two. Apparently, a significant number of Fox’s Twitter followers expressed disappointment.
Independence Day, directed by Roland Emmerich, grossed more than $817 million at the global box office. The 20th Century Fox-backed movie has a 68 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes with a 75 percent audience score.
Independence Day: Resurgence only managed to bring in around $390 million worldwide. Critics panned Resurgence, evidenced by its 29 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Moviegoers gave the sci-fi sequel a 30 percent rating on the review-aggregation website.