A familiar UAE landmark made an unexpected appearance in London on Monday morning during a major American sporting event.
Rest easy, it is not as weird as it sounds — well, not quite as weird, at least.
It happened so fast you would be forgiven for missing it, not to mention it was in the middle of the morning, but the latest Independence Day: Resurgence trailer debuted during Super Bowl 50 with an unmistakable cameo from the Burj Khalifa.
For reasons unexplained, though presumably related to the destruction of Earth by aliens, the tallest tower in the world and Dubai’s signature landmark is seen crashing into the River Thames in London.
The original 1996 Independence Day memorably featured scenes of American cities including Washington, New York and Los Angeles being annihilated by alien blasts. The explosion of the White House has become an iconic scene in action movie lore.
If the Super Bowl trailer is any indication, director Roland Emmerich is going global with his apocalyptic city-razing this time.
Starting at the 20-second mark of the 56-second clip (watch below), Singapore can be seen rising out of the sea before, inexplicably, the Burj Khalifa can be seen raining down on London.
The film, out June 24 in the US, brings back stars Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A Fox and Brent Spiner for a 20-year reunion and also features Liam Hemsworth and Maika Monroe among newcomers.
jraymond@thenational.ae
