Fox announces 'Independence Day' sequel release date

(20th Century Fox)

Exactly 19 years after the release of "Independence Day," the alien-invasion drama is getting a sequel, 20th Century Fox has announced. "Independence Day 2" is slated to hit theatres on July 3, 2015.

Last year, the film's co-screenwriter Dean Devlin told The Hollywood Reporter, "We resisted doing the sequel for years  ... We didn't want to make a movie because it was financially a good idea, we only wanted to do it when we had an idea and a concept that creatively felt like it honored the first one — that it felt like an organic sequel as opposed to 'let's just go make some more money.' I think it took a long time, but I feel like we finally got something that really feels like, 'That's worth seeing as a sequel to 'Independence Day.'"

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Will Smith has yet to confirm his involvement in the sequel, but his co-star Bill Pullman says there are plans for either scenario. "The Will Smith part of it may be ongoing, but there [are] strategies for both," Pullman told Crave Online earlier this year. "I like what I have to do in both of them. I'm not in an old-age home in a wheelchair being wheeled out for one more moment. It's a very interesting conception of what happens to [my character] Whitmore between then and when it picks back up."

Original director Roland Emmerich is set to return to the project. The original film has grossed more than $817 million worldwide.

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