'Independence Day 2' News: Roland Emmerich Tweets Photos of Him and the Crew Scouting For Film Locations

Independence Day 2 had been greenlighted since last year and initially, the plan was to have two sequels shot back to back with working titles of ID Forever Part 1 and ID Forever Part II. However, 20^th Century Fox had only greenlighted one film for the sequel.

The film will take place twenty years after the original, when reinforcements of the original alien race arrive at Earth after finally receiving a distress call.

The new film will focus on the next generation of heroes, including the stepson of Smith's character in the original film.

In May 2013, director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin mentioned that wormholes would be used as a plot device in Independence Day 2. They also added that they would like Jeff Goldblum, who played David Levinson, an MIT-educated computer expert, to reprise his role from the original. Bill Pullman, who acted as the President of the United States in the first film, has confirmed his participation, though Will Smith has not because "he's too expensive", according to Emmerich. Michael B. Jordan had also been attached on the film and could be a possible replacement for Smith's character.

When 20^th Century Fox greenlighted the project last November, they noted that this will be a stand-alone sequel that will not be split into two parts as originally planned. Filming will begin this May and casting should be completed by then. The studio had then locked down Emmerich as the director.

On the other hand, Emmerich recently tweeted two photos of him and the crew scouting locations for the filming.  The first tweet shows Emmerich next to a helicopter, the second shows him alongside the scouting crew from 20th Century Fox at what looks to be a military air base (Area 51 location?).

Independence Day 2 will hit theaters on July 4, 2016.