intergalactic casting couch

Bill Pullman Reelected for Independence Day 2

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 08: Actor Bill Pullman attends CBGB US Premiere Opening Night CBGB Music and Film Festival 2013 at Landmark Sunshine Cinema on October 8, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images for Unclaimed Freight Productions)
Photo: Robin Marchant/2013 Getty Images

You know you’re psyched to see Roland Emmerich blow up more stuff in Independence Day 2: Independence Harder (just kidding — it’s called Independence Day Forever, and it’ll have two parts). Now you can get even more psyched for the return of President Whitmore, the greatest American president ever (he flies a fighter jet in a siege against interplanetary genocidal aliens). According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bill Pullman has been reelected (so to speak) and will reprise the role of Whitmore for the sequel.

Emmerich’s original Independence Day, which made more than $800 million in 1996, has entered the pop-culture pantheon, thanks in no small part to Pullman’s oft-quoted speech near the end of the film. Vivica A. Fox will be returning to play Will Smith’s wife, though Smith himself will not be returning to save mankind a second time. Alongside Pullman, the inimitable Jeff Goldblum will return as genius, chess enthusiast, and environmentalist David Levinson. Judd Hirsch will also return, as the inimitable Goldblum’s father, Julius. They’re joined by series newcomers Liam Hemsworth and Jessie Usher, who plays Smith’s son. It frankly doesn’t matter if the film is any good, or if the aliens finally destroy Earth: When you have Jeff Goldblum in your film, you’ve already won.

Bill Pullman Reelected for Independence Day 2