The world will find out if it can survive an alien invasion without the help of Will Smith on July 3, 2015 when the sequel to the 1996 blockbuster hit "Independence Day 2" is released in theaters without the A-List actor.
Roland Emmerich confirmed the news in an interview with NY Daily News while promoting his newest film "White House Down." It appears that, of all the people who originally starred in the first movie, Will Smith's price tag is too high for what would otherwise be an ensemble cast.
"Will smith can not come back because he's too expensive, but he'd also be too much of a marquee name," Emmerich said. "We have like, maybe half of the people that, you know, would know from the first film (in the script) and the other half people who are new."
The original film was released in the summer of 1996 and became one of the most successful blockbusters ever, gaining $817.4 million. NY Daily News points out this is during a time of lower ticket prices. Although many could argue that the original film is single-handedly responsible for launching Smith into the realm of A-list celebrities in Hollywood, his career these days is more about starring as a solo main character.
The previous film featured a group of humans working with the U.S. government to find a way to take down the hostile alien invasion. Although Smith was a main character, his price tag was likely not worth putting him in a movie and giving him equal screen time with the other actors.
Screenwriter James Vanderbilt, who penned "The Amazing Spider-Man," "Zodiac" and, of course, the first "Independence Day" is currently finishing up the script for the first of two more films that are tentatively titled "ID Forever, Part 1" and "ID Forever, Part 2."
"We're not doing a total reboo, we're doing something that's totally unusual." Emmerich teased. "I think some aliens will be back."
© 2025 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
