Being that so many original cast members are returning for the Independence Day sequel, officially titled Independence Day: Resurgence, fans have been wondering why the movie’s biggest star, Will Smith, wasn’t coming back. Was it a case of him thinking he was too big for this role? Did Smith actually think he was too good to come back and fight some aliens, even after doing just that made him a star? Actually, no. We can blame M. Night Shyamalan for Smith’s absence.
Independence Day director Roland Emmerich recently spoke at a press event for the sequel and cleared up why Smith wasn’t coming back:
“In the very beginning, I wanted to work with him and he was excited to be in it but then after a while he was tired of sequels, and he did another science fiction film, which was his father-son story, so he opted out.”
That other science fiction/father-son story was After Earth, which turned out to be a huge flop and probably scared Smith away from doing anything similar for a few years; he’s even called it his “most painful” failure. Though you’d have to think that Independence Day is a pretty reliable property since Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, and Vivica Fox are all coming back — hell, Brent Spiner is going to resurrect himself to come back — but Smith is in a slightly different position these days. It will be sad to know that Captain Steven Hiller won’t be back for his family 20 years after they came together, but as another ’90s action movie told us, “relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last.”
So, blame M. Night Shyamalan for Will Smith backing out of the Independence Day sequel. What a twist!
Source: Cinema Blend
