Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. First of all, sorry for trying to put Jeff Goldblum's voice in the headline. It sounded much better in my head. Second of all, so this Independence Day 2 thing is actually happening. We've heard that Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum were returning and there have been rumors of Liam Hemsworth being courted for a role as well.
Well, Pullman hasn't been officially announced yet, but Roland Emmerich has confirmed Goldblum via Facebook. He also confirmed Liam Hemsworth joining the fight and announced the lead as relative unknown Jessie Usher.
Usher has appeared in a fair amount of TV shows and had a significant part of the football drama When The Game Stands Tall. Emmerich says the actor appeared on his radar when his producing partner spotted him doing reps at the gym (ie the dream of every in shape young wannabe actor in the greater Los Angeles area).
THR says young Mr. Usher will be playing Will Smith's son. Hemsworth is thought to be playing the nephew of Pullman's President Whitmore and Goldblum is still David Levinson. No word on if he'll have a gymnast-inclined daughter to use her skills to kick an invading alien sumbitch out of a window.
I very fondly remember the hype and hysteria surrounding ID4. The movie isn't the greatest ever, but it's a damn good ol' big budget studio popcorn flick. It was an event, something non-Marvel movies seem to be struggling to be in this day and age.
That brings us to Randy Quaid, who has actually kind of morphed into his ID4 character in real life. I'm sure Emmerich and Devlin don't want to deal with a legit crazy person, but I gotta say... I kind of want to see him back. The nuttier he is, the better he'll be in the role!
[Addendum: yes, I remember what happens to Quaid's character in the first one. That doesn't change the fact that I desperately want him back in the universe soap opera/serial film style. Last minute bail out? Even nuttier twin brother? I'm so on board. I slightly changed the above paragraph so it reads a little better.]
Thoughts?
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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