With the much anticipated sequel having received the green light in November, casting is now underway on director Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day 2. TheWrap today reports that Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games, The Expendables 2) has been offered a leading role.
Set to hit theaters June 24, 2016 (almost exactly 20 years after the original), Independence Day 2 is looking to begin production in May with a script most recently rewritten by Carter Blanchard (best known for the short-lived 2009 series “G vs E”). Previous drafts were done by Emmerich and Dean Devlin, and then by James Vanderbilt. Although Will Smith will not be returning, both Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman are expected to reprise their roles as David Levinson and President Thomas J. Whitmore, respectively.
Hemsworth can next be seen in Kieran Darcy-Smith’s By Way of Helena, reteaming with Hunger Games franchise co-star Woody Harrelson. He’ll follow that with a role opposite Kate Winsley and Sarah Snook in Jocelyn Moorhouse’s The Dressmaker before returning to Panem for one last time in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, hitting theaters on November 20.
The original Independence Day opened on July 3, 1996 and earned an impressive $817.4 million worldwide. Emmerich is also set to produce the sequel alongside Devlin and Harald Kloser.
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