Independence Day 2 Has A New Writer

Variety reports that  Carter Blanchard ("Glimmer," "Diver") is set to pen a new draft of the Independence Day 2 script.

 Director Roland Emmerich and co-writer and producer Dean Devlin  worked on the earliest draft and then screenwriter James Vanderbilt ("The Amazing Spider-Man," "Zodiac") took a pass to polish the the duo's work.

At last report Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman, were set to reprise their roles as tech whiz David Levinson and Pullman was President Thomas J. Whitmore respectively. Actor Will Smith has decided to skip the festivities--Dean and Roland were prepping two versions of the sequel--one with Smith's character Captain Steven Hiller central to the action and one without him at all.  Smith was undecided about reprising the role That's no longer the case--Smith has reportedly told Fox that he won't be doing the sequel.

The studio pushed back the release date of the film by a year. Originally slated to bow on July 3rd 2015, it will now open July 1st 2016. One benefit of the delay is that it allows the studio to capitalize that it will be out on the 20th anniversary of the original  "Independence Day"

Emmerich is prepping the film at the same time he shoots his Stonewall riots film starring Jeremy Irvine.