Jeff Goldblum Back For Independence Day 2

Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day sequel has been lurking in the inky blackness of space for almost as long as that alien mothership in the first movie, but it’s finally taking shape and has an increasingly familiar hue to it. ID4’s neurotic boffin with daddy issues, Jeff Goldblum’s MIT grad David Levinson, is back for the director’s follow-up. Emmerich confirmed the news alongside the official announcement of Liam Hemsworth’s casting via the medium of Twitter, adding to news of an new lead in Will Smith’s absence.

Alongside Goldblum (who has been in informal discussions since last year) and Hemsworth comes Jessie Usher who will appear as the son of Smith's Captain Steven Hiller in the new film. The first **Independence Day **helped launch Smith as a movie star and Usher, an up-and-comer with TV and movie credits to his name, will be hoping that tackling a fresh phalanx of warlike space bastards will reap similar rewards.

Details on the sequel, which may end up being titled Independence Day 2 or ID Forever, are scarce at the moment, though it’ll no doubt feature a return engagement with the resource-coveting alien menace that humanity saw off last time. Hemsworth signed on as the son-in-law of Bill Pullman's former President Whitmore and there is still talk of Pullman returning too. As Hiller's son – assuming The Hollywood Reporter's story pans out{ =nofollow}– Usher will be a key part of the cast. Carter Blanchard has written the most recent draft of the script and the studio set a June 24, 2016 release date late last year.

Goldblum was last seen in Mortdecai, while Hemsworth is returning for **The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 **and will star alongside Kate Winslet in The Dressmaker. Usher has appeared in films such as Beautiful Boy and **When The Game Stands Tall **and is the star of recent basketball-focused drama Survivor’s Remorse on US network Starz.