7:53PM, Oct 15, 2009
Roland Emmerich says Independence Day 2 will happen - but only if Will Smith returns. It's the first time the director has talked of a sequel since the original was released in 1996.
Independence Day director, Roland Emmerich, says a sequel to the 1996 smash hit is likely to happen, having outlined a story with his writing partner, Dean Devlin.
However, the pair insist the movie will not go into production until the original's star, Will Smith, is brought on board.
"Dean Devlin and I are still set to make a sequel likely because we've found some sort of idea and we approached Fox, and Fox has not quite figured out how to incorporate Dean's and my deal, and Will's deal," explained Emmerich.
He further elaborated on Will Smith's inclusion, insisting that his presence was of the utmost importance.
"Will wants to do it in some sort of a package they can live with. So it's just been in negations now since forever, and naturally Fox says "Why don't you do it without Will Smith?" I said Will is essential for us, for this movie and actually for the audience too.
"And, so, it's in limbo and lately the studios are fighting. Like gross players, and Will is a gross player and is probably the only gross player right now who's worth his gross. So we'll see what happens. I would love to do it.."
Independence Day was released in 1996 and made an astonishing $817m worldwide. It broke numerous records, including the opening weekend take of Jurassic Park.
It was Will Smith's first big-budget mega-hit, and was a spring board for a career that has since made over $2.5 billion dollars in ticket sales.
