by Justin Cook
It Follows actress Maika Monroe has been cast as the female lead in Roland Emmerich’s upcoming Independence Day sequel.
Emmerich posted the following tweet to his Twitter account on Monday:
I have another addition to announce. The beautiful & talented Maika Monroe is officially signed on 2 the Independence Day Sequel!
— Roland Emmerich (@rolandemmerich) April 27, 2015
The actress will be playing the daughter of Bill Pullman’s Thomas J. Whitmore (former President of the United States) and Liam Hemsworth’s love interest. Pullman will be returning to his role from the original 1996 film, while Hemsworth is a newcomer to the Independence Day series.
Such Independence Day veterans as Jeff Golblum, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch and Brett Spiner will also be reprising their roles. On the other hand, Joey King, Jessie Usher, Travis Tope and Charlotte Gainsbourg round out the new additions to the cast.
Emmerich, who helmed the first film in the series, is set to return to the director’s chair for the sequel, with a script written by Carter Blanchard.
Independence Day was the biggest film of the year, when it was released into theaters in 1996. The film grossed a whopping $817 million worldwide, with over $300 million of which being made domestically. On top of that, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor Will Smith was launched into superstardom because of the film’s success. Smith will not be returning for the sequel.
Monroe’s 2015 has already gotten off to a good start, as her horror film It Follows proved to be a surprise hit at the box office. In fact, the actress has been called Hollywood’s new “scream queen” through her performances in It Follows and last year’s Adam Wingard-directed horror/thriller film The Guest.
Previously, some speculated that The DUFF and Arrested Development actress Mae Whitman would come back to play the role of the President’s daughter Patricia Whitmore, as she played the role in the 1996 film.
Independence Day 2 will begin filming next month and hit theaters on June 24, 2016.
Source: Twitter
