After months of uncertainty, Will Smith has announced that he will NOT be reprising his role as Captain Steven Hiller in the upcoming Independence Day 2 project. The sequel comes from director Roland Emmerich.
According to a report from Deadline, Emmerich and co-writer / producer Dean Devil are moving forward with the script that does not involve Smith’s character. Due to the uncertainty of Smith’s involvement, Emmerich and Devil wrote two different versions of the movie – one with Smith and one without him. James Vanderbilt has since been working on the two separate scripts.
Emmerich previously confirmed that a number of the original film’s characters appear in the scripts. The 1996 original also starred Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Randy Quaid, Mary McDonnell, Brent Spiner, James Duval and Vivica A. Fox.
The sequel is scheduled for release on July 1st, 2016, more than a year away. That date marks the 20th anniversary of the 1996 original, which grossed $817.4 million worldwide.
