From Huffington Post:

Can we truly celebrate “Independence Day” without its original leading man?

According to Vulture, Fox is planning two, back-to-back sequels to the 1996 sci-fi smash hit that starred Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman. The first film, directed by Roland Emmerich, earned $306 million domestically and $817 million worldwide, and helped launch Smith’s box office star to the stratosphere. Clearly, the studio has incentive to make the film happen, but Smith has every reason to hold out for a giant pay day. As such, the two sides are locked in a financial battle that could get ugly — or at least make the films a whole lot less pretty.

Smith made major cash to jump back into the “Men In Black” franchise, with a second film coming in 2002 and a third due out next year. Vulture reports that the studio could make the films without Smith — the scripts are being written right now — but obviously, that’s not the preferred outcome.

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