Roland Emmerich Directing New 'Stargate' Trilogy; 'Independence Day 2' Gets Rewrite

News on Roland Emmerich's Independence Day 2 has, quite often it seems, been accompanied by updates on a potential Stargate reboot. Emmerich and producer/writer Dean Devlin have been talking about an update of their 1994 sci-fi blockbuster, which grew into a multimedia franchise that included three TV series and a pair of DVD sequels, and now it has been officially announced and in the form they always hoped it would be.

Emmerich will direct and Devlin will produce a new Stargate trilogy set up with MGM and Warner Bros. Kurt Russell and James Spader starred in the original film which dealt with the discovery of a wormhole leading to other civilizations that may have influenced Earth. Stargate banked more than $200M back in 1994 which was no chump change back then.

Stargate may be a ways off as Devlin is busy making his directorial debut on Geostorm, while Emmerich is shooting Independence Day 2, which is now getting a rewrite from Carter Blanchard. Blanchard is the guy penning that forever-developing Spy Hunter film. While this is a step in the right direction, without Will Smith on board and no A-list star to replace him this still feels like a project that is treading water. As it stands, Independence Day 2 is penciled in for July 1st 2016.

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Jeff Goldblum Returns for 'Independence Day 2'; Berenice Bejo Joins 'After the Storm'; Rainn Wilson Leads 'The Boy'

* Jeff Goldblum is seeing a couple of his most cherished franchises coming back at the same time with Jurassic World and Independence Day 2. And while fans may hope he'll appear in both, that sadly won't be the case. While talking to Huffington Post about The Grand Budapest Hotel, Goldblum revealed that he won't be returning as Ian Malcolm in Jurassic World, which isn't a surprise considering it's basically a soft reboot. But he did confirm Roland Emmerich's previous statements that he would be back as David Lewinson in the Independence Day sequel, opening July 1st 2016. One out of two ain't bad.

* Berenice Bejo (The Past) will star in After the Storm, a psychological thriller from French actor/director, Safy Nebbou. Based on Arthur Dreyfus' novel Belle Famille, the story centers on "a mother who can’t accept the accidental death of her five-year old son and instinctively hides his body. After the child is declared missing, the police launches a massive investigation that sparks a media frenzy, comforting the mother in her denial."

* Rainn Wilson and Elijah Wood last paired up on the horror-comedy, Cooties, which I caught at Sundance and thought was pretty funny. Now they're back together again for another horror, titled The Boy. Wilson will star, along with Mike Vogel, David Morse,  Zuleikha Robinson and Bill Sage. The rather ambitious project put together by co-writer/director Craig MacNeill is viewed as a trilogy "tracking the childhood of a future serial killer, with installments depicting the character at ages 9, 14 and 18, respectively, and ending with his full transformation to an iconic mass murderer." Wood is on board as a producer, and this one sounds potentially awesome if done right. [TheWrap]

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Will Smith Turns Down 'Independence Day 2'

There's been a great deal of indecision for Will Smith in deciding whether to return for Independence Day 2, and that's caused 20th Century Fox and Roland Emmerich to prepare accordingly. Emmerich had two versions of the script drafted; one that features the return of Smith's character, and another that left him out. And now it seems as if he's finally made a decision...or is very close to it.

Deadline reports that Smith won't return for the film, which may go by the title ID Forever. Or at least the site says he will make that decision known to Emmerich and Fox soon, noting that this shouldn't be set in stone due to Smith constantly changing his mind. The plan is to have the film ready for the 20th anniversary (!!!!) in 2016 but now they'll have to figure out a way to draw audiences in without Smith's star power. Emmerich has noted that costs are a bigger issue this time around and not having Smith should help out the budget immensely. But let's be honest in that he's also the main reason anybody remembers Independence Day, it's the movie that made him a box office star, and losing him will affect the bottom line.

Michael B. Jordan has been eyed to take on a role and he probably make for solid "replacement" if Fox doesn't keep him busy with Fantastic Four. Doubtful he'd have time for both. Independence Day 2 is set to open July 1st 2016.

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'Independence Day 2' Jets to 2016

Looks like there will be at least a few more dollars in your pocket come summer 2015 as one of the season's heavy-hitters just got bumped by nearly a full year. 20th Century Fox, who just shuffled around their line-up in a major way, have moved Roland Emmerich's Independence Day 2 from July 3rd 2015 to July 1st 2016.

As of now there's no word if Will Smith will return to play Captain Steve Hiller, and the actor has been flaky about making a decision. Emmerich is hoping for the best but preparing for the worst by having two scripts written, one with Smith and the other without. Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum are confirmed to return, and rumors have named Michael B. Jordan as a potential co-star.

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Two 'Independence Day 2' Scripts Written, But Only One Includes Will Smith

The success or failure of Roland Emmerich's Independence Day sequel may depend on whether Will Smith returns as fighter pilot Captain Heller. For the most part, Smith has played close to the vest on his decision, and it seems like every time a new rumor surfaces on the issue, the situation has changed. Emmerich isn't taking any chances, and had screenwriter James Vanderbilt pen two different versions of the script.

While talking to ThePlaylist, Emmerich revealed that Will Smith's character is included in only one of the two scripts that have been completed by Vanderbilt. It's an unusual approach but makes sense just in case production needs to move forward without him. The director does seem confident, though, remarking that "It's looking good" on a Smith return.

What's unclear is if either script includes Captain Heller's grown up son, who some have been saying could be played by Michael B. Jordan. The only confirmed cast at this stage are the returning Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman, although Emmerich has suggested there could be more. He also seems to have scrapped plans to split the story into two separate movies.

Independence Day 2 is set to open July 3rd 2015.

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Will Smith May Return for 'Independence Day 2'

It's funny how things change after a film most expect to be a hit turns out to be one of the summer's biggest bombs. While Roland Emmerich was out doing press for White House Down, he was asked about the possibility of Will Smith returning for Independence Day 2, the sequel to the sci-fi flick that helped make the actor a superstar. At the time, Emmerich said Smith was not in his plans at all, noting that he was "too much of a marquee name" and "too expensive". He would backtrack a little soon after, saying he hoped to get Smith at least for a cameo. But now in an interview with Digital Spy, Emmerich's saying Smith could indeed don his flight suit one more time as part of the sequel....

Emmerich: "It changes every month. I sometimes say 'No, Will Smith will not be in it,' because he didn't want to do it before but now we have a meeting planned where we want to talk about it again."

Maybe after his After Earth got pounded into dust this summer, Smith is looking for something easily bankable to maintain his grip as the summer box office champ? The story being ironed out by James Vanderbilt is still unknown, but we know there's a place for Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman to reprise their roles. A July 3rd 2015 release date has been set by 20th Century Fox, although there's a suggestion that it may be closer to 2016 when the film hits theaters.

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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.

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Will Smith Won't Return For 'Independence Day' Sequel

A very large part of the $800M Roland Emmerich's Independence Day brought in was on the shoulders of Will Smith, who was just becoming the superstar he would turn out to be. As Emmerich has been chatting up a sequel for the last couple of years, Smith has been non-committal on whether he would suit up for another go 'round. 20th Century Fox finally made the film official earlier this week by dating it for 2015, with no mention of Smith. As Emmerich makes the rounds to hype White House Down, he talked to the New York Daily News about who would be a part of the Independence Day 2 cast, and more importantly, who wouldn't be...

Emmerich: "Will Smith can not come back because he’s too expensive, but he’d also be too much of a marquee name. It would be too much. We have like maybe half of the people that you know would know from the first film and the other half people who are new."

This sounds like rear-end covering, actually, because it makes no sense that the studio would turn down having Smith as part of a summer blockbuster. More likely that Smith turned it down to pursue other projects. The last film was seventeen years ago when his career was in a completely different place. As for those "people that you know", Jeff Goldblum has talked about returning in the past, and it wouldn't be surprising if Bill Pullman did, as well.

Emmerich's plan to make this a two-part story titled ID Forever Part 1 and ID Forever Part 2 seems to be in place, and he went on to say they're "not doing a total reboot", but something he calls "totally unusual", whatever that means. James Vanderbilt, who penned White House Down and The Amazing Spider-Man, is currently rewriting Emmerich's script, so maybe that's where the "unusual" stuff will come in.

It's quite a gamble planning for two movies with the resiliency of Independence Day very much in question. One has to believe that an A-lister, or someone on the verge of it, will come aboard to help justify the prominent July 3rd 2015 release date.

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