5 Ways Roland Emmerich Destroyed The White House

By Stacy Lambe

June 27, 2013 / 1:42 PM

Roland Emmerich has a habit of destroying things. In all of his films, the director has blown up all of New York City (Independence Day), most of California (2012), the Vatican (2012) and the White House - several times. In fact, Emmerich claims that he didn't mean to make a habit of it but he has become really good at it.

Emmerich recently told VH1 News it was more of a coincidence than anything else. "First time around, it was just aliens destroying a lot. We had to choose in every city the building which is most important when the attack starts. Then in 2012 actually I wanted not to do it and my writing partner said, 'If you don't do it, they will ask you why you didn't destroy the white house this time. Just find out some different way to do it. ... This time, when I read the title page of the script, my first thought was, 'Not again. I will not do this, but then out of respect I read a couple of pages and I could not put this thing down. It's such a good script.' ... I knew this question would be the most asked. I deserve it."

Let's look back on all the ways he destroyed the most famous home in America.

Alien Invasion, Independence Day: The first time Roland Emmerich blew up the White House was with alien lasers. It was an amazing spectacle but we've should have known this was just the beginning.

Mammoth Attack, 10,000 BC: Emmerich explored ancient lands but it didn't stop him from destroying a pseudo-White House. He just unleashed a pack of mammoths in a pyramid, the tribe's epicenter of power.

Tsunami, 2012: The White House (and Danny Glover as President Thomas Wilson) went down in the largest tsunami known to mankind.

Tsunami, 2012: That same tsunami (hey, this was a worldwide aquatic retaliation from Mother Earth) took out the moving White House known as Air Force One.

Terrorist Attack, White House Down: In his latest film, aptly titled White House Down, Emmerich took down the big house not with weather or animals or aliens but just good ol' classic bombs and terrorist plots. Leave it to Emmerich to get 'realistic' in his later years.

White House Down opens Friday June 28 in theaters everywhere.