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Fox hires new scribe for Independence Day sequel

Suggesting Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin have encountered writer’s block (likely while trying to find a way to write out Will Smith’s character – now that the Fresh Prince has let the boys know he’s not coming back to kick E.T’s ass some more), or that Fox likes a little more story with their special-effects these days (it definitely helped cement “X-Men : Days of Future Past”‘s as May’s leading box-office champ), Carter Blanchard has been hired to do a rewrite on the “Independence Day” sequel.
Fox have already committed to a release date on the follow-up to the 1996 cash-cow, so it might simply have come down to finding someone who could type more than 300 words a minute.
Emmerich’s busy on another film at the moment (“Stonewall”) so he probably just hasn’t had time to rework the script, while Devlin’s probably busy… negotiating with stunt-men.
Blanchard’s credits include upcoming tentpole fare like “Spyhunter” and Mark Millar’s “Kindergarten Heroes”.
While Smith won’t be reprising his cocky pilot role for the sequel, original alien-busters Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman are said to be locks.
“Independence Day 2” is skedded for a July 1, 2016 bow.

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