The upcoming Independence Day sequel is undergoing some script work before production begins.  Director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Deviln penned the initial draft of the follow-up before turning over scripting duties in earnest to Emmerich’s White House Down scribe James Vanderbilt.  That iteration of the script has remained for some time, but,as the July 1, 2016 release date approaches, it appears that there’s still more work to be done.  Deadline reports that 20th Century Fox has tapped Carter Blanchard to pen a new draft of the screenplay while Emmerich shoots his gay rights period drama Stonewall.  Emmerich is pulling double duty, as he continues to prep Independence Day 2 while in production on the small-scale Stonewall.

Hit the jump for more on Blanchard and the plot of Independence Day 2.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Blanchard doesn’t have many credits to his name, but he has a number of projects in development.  He’s currently adapting Mark Millar’s comic Kindergarten Heroes, he recently penned a draft of the video game adaptation Spy Hunter for Ruben Flesicher to direct, and he sold his spec Glimmer to DreamWorks.

As for the Independence Day sequel, Emmerich and Devlin have previously stated that the story takes place 20 years after the events of the first pic and follows the now-adult children of the original film’s characters.  We also know that Will Smith has declined the opportunity to return, but Bill Pullman is expected to be back.  However, with Blanchard now penning a new draft of the script, it’s unclear if he’s simply refining Vanderbilt’s screenplay or if this version will be substantially different from the story that was initially hatched.

A production start-date hasn’t been announced just yet, but I expect filming will begin either very late this year or sometime in the first quarter of 2015, once Emmerich completes post-production on Stonewall.