Roland Emmerich Explains Reason Why Will Smith Opted Out Of Independence Day: Resurgence

It has been an informative week for Independence Day: Resurgence, but many fans have had one question unanswered.

At the Q&A held earlier this week, we leaned the title of the movie, saw cool images and designs from the movie, and director Roland Emmerich introduced the cast to us. But fans wanted to know why the 1996 original cast member, Will Smith, was not appearing in the follow-up movie.

According to Cinemablend, Emmerich had an answer: he said that Smith was eager to jump back into the role of fighter pilot Steven Hiller, but begun to have second thoughts about the movie's proposed father-son relationship with Hiller's son Dylan.

"In the very beginning, I wanted to work with him and he was excited to be in it but then after a while he was tired of sequels, and he did another science fiction film, which was his father-son story, so he opted out."

The other father-and-son sci-fi movie was After Earth, where Smith and his real-life son Jaden played as father and son. After Earth tanked in the box office, so maybe Smith was hesitant to go down that road again.

Learning why Smith would not reappear was a huge bummer for me. I think he done a superb job in the original Independence Day. Leave a comment below telling if you think Will Smith will be missed.

Independence Day: Resurgence will feature returning cast members Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner, and Vivica Fox, along with newcomers Liam Hemsworth, William Fictner and Charlotte Gainsbourg.