After a summer of huge disappoint with his box-office flop WHITE HOUSE DOWN, master of destruction director Roland Emmerich is in desperate need of a hit and will next move onto a sequel to his 1997 sci-fi smash INDEPENDENCE DAY. While it’s been in the pipeline for sometime, he now needs the aliens to resurface for more corny confusion and chaos for INDEPENDENCE DAY 2. He is said to already have his eye on the young lead.
CHRONICLE star Michael B. Jordan, who this year scored major critical acclaim in true-crime drama FRUITVALE STATION, is said to have met Emmerich and 20th Century Fox studio chiefs for a significant role in the forthcoming sequel. Although a deal has yet been agreed, he’s expected to be named in the cast before the end of the year. How this impacts on his rumoured role on Josh Trank’s FANTASTIC FOUR reboot (again a Fox property) and ROCKY spin-off CREED remains to be seen.
Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman are expected to reprise their roles from the original. Emmerich has since claimed Will Smith is unlikely to return as he’s such a superstar and will bump up the budget. Following the disaster AFTER EARTH, I’ve a feeling he’ll be on his knees begging.
Source: TheWrap
