Will Smith Not Returning for INDEPENDENCE DAY 2; Director Says He Is 'Too Expensive'

According to a report by The New York Daily News, INDEPENDENCE DAY 2 director Roland Emmerich has confirmed Will Smith will not be returning to the sequel.

"Will Smith cannot 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 from the first film and the other half people who are new."

Read the original report here.

Set for release on July 3, 2015 via 20th Century Fox, INDEPENDENCE DAY 2 is aiming to be the first of a two-part story, with working titles "ID Forever, Part I" and "Part II".

James Vanderbilt is penning the screenplay, which will not be a "total reboot", according to Emmerich.

Smith will next appear in Winter's Tale, The American Can, I, Robot 2, Hancock 2 and Bad Boys 3. His last big screen role was in After Earth. Other credits include the Men in Black series, Seven Pounds, I Am Legend, The Pursuit of Happyness, Hitch, Wild Wild West, Enemy of the State, and, of course, Independence Day in 1996.

Photo Credit: Monica Simoes

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