We knew that director Roland Emmerich was going to return to inflict his particular brand of destruction for Independence Day 2, but what we didn’t know is who exactly would fill out the cast. Would Will Smith return? How about Bill Pullman? We’re getting a clearer picture about the sequel that’s been in development since 2013, as the Hollywood Reporter wrote that rising star Jessie Usher will take over for Will Smith, while Liam Hemsworth and returning hero Jeff Goldblum will join the main cast.
Here’s Emmerich confirming the news.
Excited to officially announce that Jessie Usher will be joining the cast for the sequel of #IndependenceDay ! http://t.co/rrVWwzQBUD RT
— Roland Emmerich (@rolandemmerich) March 4, 2015
Excited to Officially announce @LiamHemsworth and #JeffGoldblum as the next two pieces of the #IndependenceDay sequel pic.twitter.com/GNuvffKWI3
— Roland Emmerich (@rolandemmerich) March 4, 2015
Usher will play the stepson of Will Smith’s character from the original film, and is supposedly one of the lead characters. Smith has already gone on record to say that he’s not interested in reprising his role from ID4, so perhaps we’ll get some backstory of his character dying and his son taking up his mission against the aliens? Usher’s latest work was as the lead in the Starz basketball-family drama, Survivor’s Remorse. He will see his stock rise as the second season of that show premieres later this year, with ID4 2 coming out some time in 2016. The sequel’s budget is currently estimated at a whopping $200 million.
