At a Q&A in New York for his film “White House Down” in June, director Roland Emmerich reiterated a comment he made earlier by stating Will Smith is a little too expensive and too big a star to return for part two (of Independence Day.) He went on to say that if Smith did return it would be in a cameo role in order to “pass the torch.” Now, according to Emmerich, Smith will begin talks to reprise his role as Captain Steven Hiller in the upcoming “Independence Day” sequel. So, what happened?
“After Earth” is what happened! The team of Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith didn’t rack up any large ticket sales at the domestic box office and the film tanked. This has made Smith less bankable, which has brought his asking price down. Also, while promoting “After Earth” in June, Smith commented that he was planning to shun blockbusters by saying:
“I think I’m going to start moving out of that and finding more danger in my artistic choices.”
With Emmerich out promoting “White House Down” in foreign markets, he seems to have had a change of heart regarding Smith’s role in the “Independence Day” sequel. He is claiming Smith is interested in returning and talks are being planned.
“I sometimes say no, Will Smith will not be in it because he didn’t want to do it at first. Now we have a meeting planned, we want to talk about it again. Anything can happen.”
Emmerich also discussed the difficulties in putting a project of this size together and how the release date may be pushed to the following year.
“It is changing every month, because putting together a sequel of this magnitude is an enormous undertaking. I am sure we will make it, either for 2015, or 16. Right now, as it looks…Probably 16.”
So, what do you think about a possible return of Captain Steven Hiller?
Here is a brief outline for the sequels.
It’s been almost 20 years since the Earth was plunged into a war with a scavenger race of extraterrestrials. Humans have harnessed the technology salvaged from the multitude of wrecked alien craft to make numerous scientific advancements, but lack the ability to duplicate the organically-grown technology. Now, alien reinforcements are about to arrive.
Although no production date has been announced, “ID Forever – Part 1” is scheduled for release on July 3, 2015 or 2016. The film will star Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum. Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich co-wrote the script, which has been turned over to writer-producer James Vanderbilt (“White House Down”) for a rewrite. Roland Emmerich will direct.
Source: Digital Spy