Roland Emmerich directing feature film adaptation of Asteroids?

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

The look on the other guy’s face says it all…

Roland Emmerich is, if nothing else, a skilled technician when it comes to destroying Earth. His last disaster epic, 2012, is a splendid reminder that, when he’s “on”, no one can match Emmerich in the cinematic armageddon department. (And yes, I’m a fan of 2012; it’s blissfully ridiculous and spectacular. His others movies are mostly just ridiculous.) He recently helmed a dramatic period piece called ANONYMOUS which partially focuses on William Shakespeare (!), and with that project came a promise, of sorts, from Emmerich that he was done annihilating the planet.

Ah, but that doesn’t mean large-scale destruction is off the table completely! According to Vulture, Emmerich has been offered the job of helming ASTEROIDS for Universal Pictures. Yes, ASTEROIDS, as in the Atari video game from about three decades ago… Before you jump to conclusions, however, it’s not necessarily about what you’d assume. (I for one simply envision a movie where asteroids bombard all of the world’s major cities for 2 1/2 hours.)

Here’s a snippet from the Vuture article that will give you an idea of what this proposed film is about:

We’re told it’s an ersatz sequel to world-ending Emmerich films like Independence Day and 2012, but one in which the aliens have won. The remnants of human civilization are now living on far-flung colonies within an asteroid belt alongside aliens. The survivors were led to believe that this alien civilization was benevolent, rescuing them from doom, but ultimately discover that the aliens have engineered Earth’s destruction, and soon will do the same for the rest of humankind.

As of now, if Vulture is on the money with this story, Emmerich has not officially signed on; it’s still just an offer. But perhaps the temptation to oversee another decimation of society will be too great for Emmerich to resist? We’ll have to wait and see…