30 Facts About Roland Emmerich

Roland Emmerich is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer.

Roland Emmerich is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the industry.

Roland Emmerich began his work in the film industry by directing the film The Noah's Ark Principle as part of his university thesis and co-founded Centropolis Entertainment in 1985 with his sister.

Roland Emmerich is known for directing films such as Universal Soldier, Stargate, Independence Day and its sequel Independence Day: Resurgence, Godzilla, The Patriot, The Day After Tomorrow, 10,000 BC, 2012, White House Down, Midway, and Moonfall.

In 1985, he founded Centropolis Film Productions in partnership with his sister, producer Ute Roland Emmerich, and directed his major film debut, a fantasy feature named Joey.

Roland Emmerich subsequently directed the 1987 comedy Hollywood-Monster and the 1990 science-fiction film Moon 44.

Theatrically, these were only released in and nearby his native country, although Roland Emmerich filmed them in English and went against conventional German styles in an attempt to appeal to a larger market.

Joey and Hollywood-Monster eventually saw home video releases in the US once Roland Emmerich achieved more prominence in America.

Producer Mario Kassar invited Roland Emmerich to come to the United States to direct a futuristic action film entitled Isobar.

Roland Emmerich subsequently refused the offer to direct after producers rejected Devlin's re-write of the script, and the Isobar project was eventually scrapped.

Roland Emmerich then directed Independence Day, an alien invasion feature, released in 1996, that became the first film to gross $100 million in less than a week and went on to become one of the most financially successful films of all time, at one point having been the second-highest-grossing film in terms of worldwide box office.

Roland Emmerich said that prior to getting involved with Godzilla he and Devlin had planned a disaster movie centered around an asteroid fall, which wound up cancelled after Armageddon went for a similar idea.

One of only five films Roland Emmerich has directed in which he did not contribute to the screenplay, the film received a generally favorable critical and commercial response, and is Roland Emmerich's best-reviewed film to date.

In 2008, Roland Emmerich directed 10,000 BC, a film about the journeys of a prehistoric tribe of mammoth hunters.

Roland Emmerich was slated to direct a remake of the 1966 science-fiction film Fantastic Voyage, but the project slipped back into development hell.

In 2009, Roland Emmerich directed 2012, an apocalyptic disaster film based on the conspiracy theory that the ancient Mayans prophesied the world's ending on 21 December 2012.

Roland Emmerich directed the action-thriller film White House Down, which involved a terrorist attack on the White House by a paramilitary group.

Roland Emmerich began filming in July 2012 at the La Cite Du Cinema in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Whenever asked about making a personal project, Roland Emmerich thought it would be "a gay film", and after friends during production of Anonymous asked if he could make a film on the Stonewall riots, Roland Emmerich got interested in the idea.

Roland Emmerich followed it with a sequel to his most successful film in Independence Day: Resurgence, released twenty years after the original Independence Day on 24 June 2016.

In November 2019, Roland Emmerich directed the film Midway based on the battle of Midway during the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Roland Emmerich owns homes in Los Angeles, New York City, London and Stuttgart.

Roland Emmerich is a collector of art and an LGBT activist, and is openly gay.

Roland Emmerich has claimed that he witnessed overt racism when producers and studio executives were opposed to allowing him to cast Will Smith for the lead in Independence Day, and reluctant to allow him to portray an interracial couple in The Day After Tomorrow.

Roland Emmerich has claimed that he has encountered homophobia from the same groups, and is vocal in his opposition to such behavior.

Roland Emmerich made the donation on behalf of Outfest, making it the largest gift in the festival's history.

Roland Emmerich is in favor of the campaign for stunt performers to receive recognition at the Academy Awards, and has worked to raise awareness over the issue of global warming.

Roland Emmerich once was a chain-smoker who was known to smoke as many as four packs of cigarettes a day, Emmerich has often included in his films characters who are trying to quit smoking or warn against the dangers of tobacco use.

Roland Emmerich contends that he is not discouraged by such criticism and that he aims to provide enjoyable "popcorn" entertainment to movie-going audiences.

However, Roland Emmerich still defends Godzilla, noting that the film was highly profitable and claiming that, of all his movies, people tell him Godzilla is the one they and their kids watch the most repeatedly.