Emmerich Admits There’s Two ‘Independence Day’ Scripts

For years we have waited for director Roland Emmerich to make up his mind on a sequel to the 1996 hit Independence Day. We finally got our answer during press for his film White House Down, when the director admitted that Independence Day the sequel is in the works.

Since then there’s been talk in both directions on whether or not Will Smith will be a part of the sequel. An initial report had alluded that Smith was done with it all, and another report said he may come back for a cameo, but the rest of the film would probably be based on his son’s journey, who would be recast.

Now Indiewire is breaking news that Roland Emmerich has decided to hire White House Down’s scribe to write two scripts for the Independence Day sequel. One version has Will Smith and the other does not involve Will Smith, so consider that progress on the Will Smith issue — sort of.

When asked about the sequel, Emmerich said that it was, “A daily battle; the budget, the schedules, the actors.” And what about Will Smith’s involvement? Now that we know there’s two different scripts for the film, it’s easy to deduce that not even Emmerich knows if Will Smith will be available.

Although we don’t know if Will Smith will be in the sequel, it does still seem like Will Smith’s character’s son is still involved in the main plot. It was rumored that Michael B. Jordan may play his son, but then again, since his success with Fruitvale Station it seems like Michael B. Jordan is being tapped to play everyone.

We do know that two familiar faces are returning to the sequel and that’s Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum.

Another tidbit that was unveiled about Independence Day‘s new sequel is that it will not be broken up into two separate films, which seems to be the go to move for some studios as they’re looking to capitalize on big blockbuster films. The sequel will just be one film, with or without Will Smith.