NEW YORK -- Director Roland Emmerich and writer Dean Devlin are fast becoming the most sought-after filmmakers in Hollywood.

They first started turning heads with the Jean-Claude Van Damme thriller Universal Soldier and solidified their box-office clout with Stargate.

Now they are poised to hit real paydirt with the release of Independence Day on Wednesday.

Their special-effects alien-invasion movie is the most eagerly awaited release of the summer and they are receiving offers from every studio in Hollywood.

They are currently in negotiation with Columbia Pictures to write and direct Godzilla.

They had hoped to create a sequel to Stargate but, as Devlin explains, "MGM has decided to spin it off into a TV series and Roland and I aren't interested in being involved in that. We felt it warranted a feature-film sequel."

Emmerich recalls that when he and Devlin first pitched their idea for Stargate every major studio warned them science fiction was a dead genre.

"Stargate and Species gave science fiction such a jolt that studios are now dusting off every old sci-fi script they have."

Emmerich and Devlin met in 1989 on the set of Moon 44. Emmerich was directing. Devlin had a small role.

According to Devlin the two men "discovered we loved the same kinds of science fiction. I pitched Roland a few of my ideas. He liked them and we've been working together ever since."

Devlin, who had recurring roles in such TV series as L.A. Law and Hard Copy, is the son of actress Pilar Seurat.

"My mother was the character Scotty killed when he turned into 'Jack, The Ripper' in the Star Trek episode called Wolf in The Fold," explains Devlin who insists he's far too busy these days to miss acting.

With Independence Day, Emmerich and Devlin are paying homage to many of their favorite science-fiction movies.

"In War of The Worlds, the aliens were killed by a cold virus. In our movie, the only hope is to introduce a virus into the alien command ship's mother computer," explains Emmerich.

When Jeff Goldblum's character switches on his computer, it greets him as the computer did its human friends in 2001, A Space Odyssey.

"My favorite alien creatures are those from Alien and Predator, so that explains the design of ours," says Devlin.

"The alien mother ships will remind people of those in Close Encounters and the battle with the mother ship is definitely a homage to Star Wars," explains Devlin, pointing out that these are just a few of the references movie buffs can look forward to sleuthing out.


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