In what will surely rank as the least surprising news of the day, the original Independence Day is returning to theaters alongside its sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence. The films will be screened together nationwide on Resurgence’s opening night, Thursday, June 23, with the original 1996 film scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. local time, according to /Film. The sequel will then premiere at 8 p.m., giving audiences the perfect opportunity to realize just how much Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman have aged in 20 years and just how clearly Maika Monroe is not Mae Whitman. The runtime of the whole shebang is a mere four hours and 24 minutes, which is nothing compared to that 18-and-a-half hour Star Wars marathon or the 28-hour Marvel one.
Perhaps the most surprising part of this whole story is the reminder that for some inexplicable reason, Independence Day: Resurgence isn’t opening on Fourth of July weekend, but the weekend before, putting a movie named for a holiday in July squarely in June. But for those who don’t mind witnessing a Founding Fathers-inspired alien ass kicking a week early, tickets for the double feature are available via MovieTickets.com or via Fandango.