Now that the first of two scheduled Independence Day sequels has its July 3, 2015 release date—ensuring another Fourth of July will be commemorated by Bill Pullman’s slightly less stirring speech, “Hey, whaddayaknow… It’s Independence Day again”—talk has naturally turned to original star Will Smith, and why he probably won’t be involved in the film, like we’ve suspected for about two years now. “Will Smith cannot come back because he's too expensive, but he'd also be too much of a marquee name. It would be too much,” director Roland Emmerich tells New York Daily News, in the first recorded instance of Emmerich declaring anything “too much.”
Emmerich’s explanation lines up with what we’ve learned previously about the script’s focus on “the sons taking over” (sons who, in this one particular case, won’t be formed from Will Smith chromosomes) and about Will Smith’s focus on Will Smith. Anyway, with all the money saved by not buying a Will Smith, the sequel will be able to afford many other amenities, such as every scene now featuring Judd Hirsch modeling a different lavish mink coat.