UH-OH: Will Smith Will NOT Be Returning For ‘Independence Day 2’

If a sequel no one ever felt was warranted is finally greenlit over a decade after the original without its lead actor attached, is it still a sequel?

While making the press rounds in promotion of his new film White House Down, director Rolan Emmerich revealed Will Smith will not be appearing in Independence Day 2.

“Will Smith can not come back because he’s too expensive,” Emmerich told the Daily News, “but he’d also be too much of a marquee name.”

The film, which was given a release date of July 2015 just last week, has been rumored since the original’s 1996 debut. Smith’s career rocketed to megastardom following the film’s release, so it’s certainly a surprise to learn he will not be appearing in the sequel. The actor has not commented on the story, and to be honest we don’t expect he will.

Not every notable face from the original will be absent from Emmerich’s latest adventure. Bill Pullman, who famously played the president in the original, has hinted that he will in be returning for ID4-2. Additionally, Roland himself commented later in the same Daily News article mentioned above that a few additional characters from the original would appear in the new feature.

“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.”

At this time no leads have been announced for Independence Day 2, and as far as we know the production has yet to set a start date, but we will continue to follow this film’s progress in the months ahead. Be sure to follow UTG on Twitter to ensure you never miss another headline.

James Shotwell
Latest posts by James Shotwell (see all)
Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.