14 DAY TRIAL // There are very few people out there that haven't seen “Independence Day,” the movie where a loud-mouthed jet fighter pilot played by Will Smith and an overeducated cable guy played by Jeff Glodblum save the world from being invaded and destroyed by aliens.
Even fewer people know that there are currently plans being developed to bring “Independence Day 2,” the sequel to the successful action movie to cinemas in the coming years. The good news today is that Jeff Goldblum has confirmed he's in talks to reprise his role from the original.
According to the Huffington Post, Goldblum has confirmed that he is in talks with director Roland Emmerich to bring back on screen the character of David Levinson.
When told that Emmerich has confirmed he was going to reprise his role, Goldblum said “Oh, good, so he's talked about it. Yeah, they've talked to me about it and I've talked to them about it and they're excited and I'm anxious and eager to see -- I haven't read anything -- what they cook up. You know, I think they're trying to put it together.”
So far, Emmerich has stated that all members of the original cast, apart from Will Smith who said he wasn't on board for this one, are going to appear in the sequel. The director is working at the moment with writer and producer Dean Devlin on the script for the movie that is set to air on July 4, 2016. That's right, it's going to air on Independence Day. How fitting.
Coincidentally or not, 2016 marks the first film's 20th anniversary, so, in the long run, it might all have been planned, despite the fact that it was initially announced for July 2015, then pushed back as the production process was dragging along.
The story of “Independence Day 2” is said to take place in an alternate modern-day setting, in which humanity has spent the last 20 years harnessing that researching the alien technology they acquired from the first invasion.
The action picks up with the second wave of the alien invasion reaching Earth, after they've traveled through a wormhole setting the intrigue for the next movie. Apart from Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and Judd Hirsh are set to appear in the sequel.
Will Smith was in talks for some time and he went back and forth on the idea of reprising his role as the hotshot jet pilot Steven Hiller, but finally opted to skip on the project that Emerich has announced will bring a lot of new characters.
The director has also stated his intention to set up the action in the sequel in such a way to open up the line for an “Independence Day 3.”