Vivica A. Fox Confesses ‘Independence Day 2’ Didn’t ‘Live Up’ to the First: ‘We Really Missed Out by Not Bringing Will Smith Back’

Vivica A. Fox confesses that Independence Day: Resurgence didnt live up its predecessor, specifically because the 2016 sequel didnt manage to bring Will Smith back to reprise his role from the 1996 blockbuster classic.

In a conversation with the A.V. Club to promote her new true crime series The Interrogation Room, Fox touched on the 2016 Resurgence saying she didnt feel like it was good and that it didnt live up to the first one.

I really feel we missed out by not bringing Will Smith back. We had most of the original cast, but I think the one true link that was missing to the success of Independence Day 2 was that Will Smith wasnt there, Fox shared. Im going to keep it real I was at the premiere and I was like Mmm, lets see how the fans are going to feel about this. And sure enough on Twitter, they blew me up.

Fox reprised her role as Jasmine Hiller for the Independence Day sequel, but Will Smith, who played her characters husband, ace pilot Steve Hiller, did not return after having salary disagreements with the production during development. Smiths character was killed off between films. Original cast members Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch and Brent Spiner all reprised their roles, while Jessie T. Usher joined the sequel to portray the son of Fox and Smiths couple.

The first Independence Day was the highest-grossing film of 1996, with $817 million in ticket sales worldwide. By comparison, the belated Resurgence was interpreted as somewhat of an underwhelming box office force, getting to $389 million worldwide against a $165 million production budget.