Roland Emmerich returns with 'Moonfall'

"We're saving the moon and with it the earth," says astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) in the trailer for "Moonfall." On their space trip, Harper and his two comrades-in-arms — former astronaut Jo Fowler (Halle Berry) and conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) — realize how pressed for time they are. More so since the moon is not what people have always thought it to be.

With "Moonfall," Emmerich, who was born in Stuttgart on November 10, 1955, once again lives up to his nickname, coined for his penchant for disaster scenarios. On Emmerich's 65th birthday in 2020, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to him, saying "You have thrilled an audience of millions and set the standard for the use of special effects."

The Swabian-born director came to the attention of Hollywood early on, where blockbusters such as "Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow" and "The Patriot" made him world famous. Emmerich actually wanted to become a production designer, but after seeing "Star Wars" in theaters, he switched to directing.

Emmerich's career began in the Swabian town of Maichingen, where he shot his first directorial feature, "The Noah's Ark Principle," in a disused washing machine factory. In the science-fiction thriller, two astronauts are abused by the US military for a secret war mission. With each subsequent film, Emmerich became an expert in action and disaster films in the years that followed.

After several German productions, Emmerich came to the attention of film critics as a shrewd emulator of Hollywood style — and would finally crash into Hollywood himself in 1992 with "Universal Soldier," starring Jean-Claude Van Damme at the peak of his powers. The wowing special effects established the director's reputation as the action director to watch.

Together with his longtime screenwriter Dean Devlin, Emmerich penned the screenplay for the sci-fi film "Stargate" in 1994, which itself led to a number of spin-offs. Three TV series and an animated adaptation later, the "Stargate" saga continues to dazzle, with further related projects being developed.

It took a patriotic disaster movie for Emmerich to truly conquer the collective heart and soul of America. "Independence Day," starring Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman — three of the then-most popular actors in the country — had it all, with alien invasions and epic battles of civilizations. The film was naturally an epic success as well, and a sequel followed in 2016.

There are few cult classics quite like the Japanese epic "Godzilla." And who else to bring the film into the future than Emmerich, who transposed the cantankerous lizard to New York…with oodles of special effects to boot. The film grossed nearly $380 million worldwide (€340 million) and, while widely panned by critics, certified Emmerich as the go-to guy for special-effects blockbusters.

At the dawn of the new millennium, Emmerich for the first time turned his attention to history: the Revolutionary War. In "The Patriot" Mel Gibson plays a widowed plantation owner in South Carolina forced to defend his children against the British army, who goes on to become one of the leading resistance fighters and heroes. The patriotic classic garnered three Oscar nominations.

In "The Day after Tomorrow" Emmerich painted a bleak picture of the future: a world devastated by melting polar icecaps, a freezing Atlantic and the descent of the Earth into a super ice age. Thanks to its visual and technical prowess and its pertinent themes, the 2004 film won the hearts of the critics as well as the fans.

Emmerich had been brewing on a prehistoric epic since the late 1990s, but it was only after "The Day after Tomorrow" that he dared to take on his 2008 Stone Age epic "10,000 BC." In the film, a young warrior sets out to free his beloved from the clutches of slave traders. The re-imagined flora and fauna add to this film's fascination and success.

At the peak of his fame, Emmerich released "White House Down" in 2013 — a film that proved to be one of his greatest flops, despite its stellar cast. In the thriller, a cop (Channing Tatum) saves the US president (Jamie Foxx) from the hands of blackmailers and prevents the imminent threat of World War III. The film never recouped the immense cost of production totaling $150 million.

With "Stonewall" in 2015, Emmerich found himself in unfamiliar territory — a film about the Stonewall Riots in New York, which kicked off the gay rights movement. The historic battle is remembered each year in Germany with the Christopher Street Day parade.

In 2019, Emmerich released "Midway," which portrays a decisive naval battle in the Pacific during World War II, known as the Battle of Midway. The special effects were once again all there, but critics felt the story wasn't quite ready for the win.