Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman Back For 'Independence Day 2'; Will Smith Wanted For Cameo

Roland Emmerich is supposedly out on tour to promote this week's White House Down, but he's spending a good deal of time talking up the newly-confirmed Independence Day sequel. Unfortunately, a lot of the buzz he's generating has to do with its complete lack of Will Smith, because he's "too expensive" and a "marquee name", which still makes no sense considering its a summer blockbuster. Emmerich did say that half the cast would be made of newcomers and the other half familiar faces, and now a couple of those who are coming back have been confirmed.

While at a Q&A hosted by Movies.com, Emmerich revealed that Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum would be reprising their roles. Pullman was President Thomas J. Whitmore, the first cinematic Commander-in-Chief to be terrorized by Emmerich. It's unlikely he'll still be in office, but hey, maybe he instituted martial law after the last alien invasion? Goldblum, who may be returning to play an eccentric nerd in Jurassic Park 4, will come back and do the same here as computer specialist David Levinson. He also confirmed the film will have its flag-waving debut on July 3rd 2015.

As for Will Smith, the door is probably closed but Emmerich hopes he can come back for a cameo. Here's the quote from the Q&A moderator...

[Emmerich] elaborated a bit and said he still hasn’t presented Smith with the final product and hopes he can get him for a cameo to “pass the torch,” so to speak.

So there's still a chance, albeit a small one. Although the idea of Smith passing the torch is a disconcerting one, because you know exactly who he'd want to pass it to.