Will Smith’s decision to not return for the two-part Independence Day sequel, ID Forever, may have the creative team behind the film looking to find a new way into the follow-up to Roland Emmerich’s 1996 blockbuster.
According to Variety, writer Carter Blanchard has been tasked with rewriting the script for ID Forever, Part 1, which was initially penned by James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man, White House Down) before Smith announced that he wouldn’t reprise his role for the film. Director Roland Emmerich indicated in March 2013 that the sequel would be set 20 years after the events of the original film, with another wave of aliens arriving after they receive a distress call from the invaders that were defeated by Earth’s forces in the 1996 story.
Blanchard is currently working on an adaptation of Kick-Ass co-creator Mark Millar’s Kindergarten Heroes, and most recently penned the script for the upcoming Spy Hunter film based on the classic video game.
While the ID Forever title for the film hasn’t been officially confirmed at this point, Emmerich himself has been referring to the project using that title, and indicated that it will be a two-part story featuring a younger generation of characters — with rumors hinting that one of the characters could be the son of Smith’s alien-punching U.S. Marine Corp character, Captain Steven Hiller. Chronicle and The Fantastic Four actor Michael B. Jordan is rumored to be the frontrunner for the role.
Thus far, the only returning cast member confirmed for the sequel is Bill Pullman, who played President Thomas Whitmore in the 1996 film.
