Last week 20th Century Fox confirmed a summer 2015 release for the Independence Day sequel, ID Forever. As Will Smith had said for years he was potentially interested in a follow-up, many thought the release date meant that he’d probably be back.
However now director Roland Emmerich has revealed to the NY Daily News that Will Smith is not starring in the sequel, saying, “Will Smith can not come back because he’s too expensive, but he’d also be too much of a marquee name. It would be too much.”
Back in 2011 it was reported that Smith was asked for a whopping $50 million to appear in the two-part ID Forever – Part 1 and ID Forever – Part 2, plus a large chunk of the box office. This apparently became a sticking point and so they’ve decided to go forward without the actor.
Roland Emmerich did say though that many original cast of Independence Day will be back. He says, “We have like maybe half of the people that you know from the first film (in the script) and the other half people who are new.”
And while there’s been talk for years about this being two movies, it seems that initially Fox just wants to make one sequel and see how well that does before making a third.