Will Smith’s $817M Sci-Fi That Redefined Blockbusters Is One of Netflix’s Top Movies Right Now

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Netflix is celebrating the Fourth of July a little early with the return of ‘Independence Day,’ the popular 1990s movie starring Will Smith. It’s quickly becoming a hit on the streaming platform.

According to FlixPatrol, Independence Day is currently number 4 on Netflix’s Top 10 list in the United States, climbing two spots since yesterday. It’s surprising to see the movie doing so well, as there aren’t any new releases from Will Smith or the Independence Day series that would likely be driving viewers back to the original 1996 film.

Directed by Roland Emmerich (who also co-wrote the script with Dean Devlin), Independence Day was a hugely influential film. It’s often credited with reshaping the modern Hollywood blockbuster and was a defining movie of the 1990s.

Despite some mixed reviews, audiences loved Independence Day, making it a huge box office hit. The film earned over $817 million worldwide, becoming the second-highest-grossing movie of all time at that point, behind only Jurassic Park. It was also recognized for its impressive effects, winning an Academy Award in that category.

Is It Time for Hollywood to Revisit Independence Day?

While Jurassic Park quickly led to a string of successful movies, it took two decades for a sequel to Independence Day to appear. That sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, featured some of the original cast, including Jeff Goldblum, but Will Smith chose not to reprise his role.

Despite expectations, the movie Resurgence didn’t perform well at the box office, earning just under $390 million globally. Combined with unfavorable reviews, this led 20th Century Fox to cancel any further sequels.

Now that Independence Day is popular again on Netflix, 20th Century Studios might want to revisit plans for a sequel to Resurgence. It shows there’s still a strong interest in large-scale alien invasion movies.

Since Disney acquired it, 20th Century Studios has brought back popular franchises like Planet of the Apes and Alien to critical and commercial success. A reboot of Independence Day could perform just as well as the original, given sufficient funding, a strong story, and talented people involved—particularly if Will Smith were to reprise his role as Captain Steven Hiller.

Will Smith returned as Mike Lowrey in 2020 with Bad Boys for Life, a huge success in theaters. He followed that up with another popular film, Ride or Die in 2024, demonstrating his continued ability to draw audiences to the cinema.

It’s unclear if Will Smith will return for another Independence Day movie, especially since he didn’t participate in Resurgence ten years ago. However, he’s currently filming a new project, which hints he might be more open to revisiting past roles now.

Independence Day is currently streaming on Netflix.

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2026-02-06 21:08