This story has since been denied by Smith's rep to Gossip Cop, but the "not true at this time" quote tells me that talks are progressing but no deal has yet to be made. We know Fox and Emmerich want sequels off the ground and have been pretty aggressive in their quest since late last year - it's just a case of convincing Smith to return which isn't easy given all his previous big franchises are also attempting to lure him back.
According to an
IESB exclusive,
Will Smith is now signed on for the long awaited (?)
'Independence Day' sequels. Yes sequels - two more movies. That makes it another trilogy we never asked for. The original team of director/co-writer
Roland Emmerich and co-writer
Dean Devlin are back behind the story, but no new details have been given since our original
November report; when Emmerich confirmed it would be another alien invasion plot. Perhaps the original aliens will return with a firewall they actually paid for, or even a Mac based mothership (shudder). We can speculate, but if one thing's for certain, it's going to be big, it's going to be released on July 4th 2012 (watch the
'Spider-Man' reboot squirm once this movie is announced) and it's going to generate more money than any previous Will Smith picture. It's just impossible to see how it can't. If this is true it would put the release of the film somewhere just after the 10 year anniversary of 9/11....
Emmerich is not known for his subtlety, and we can probably expect a lot more American flags, whooping, air punching and, considering the 'current political climate', some poorly masked aversions to terrorism and 'the enemy within'. That said, the original will always be regarded with some fondness, an unapologetic, all American big budget effects-fest, and if the sequels can progress the story well without compromising the tone, they might manage to find a special place in film history. As noted in
Ray's recent '2012' review, Emmerich's got a talent for spectacle, but not always for story. Cash-cow Smith (but he has had an 18 month break, so who can blame him?) has recently been locked into one of two projects, either
'Men in Black 3' or 'The City that Sailed' which will be shot before
'ID-4ever' (as Emerich has apparently dubbed it according to
MTV). I'm still relieved that
he's backed off 'Old Boy', any decision that isn't that seems sweet to me. There's not much more detail about the sequel(s)yet but after blowing up the Whitehouse, and living in a post
'2012' and
'Cloverfield', and 9/11 world - What can they put on a poster that will have the same impact as seeing America destroyed the first time around?