Sela Ward Cast as President in ‘Independence Day 2’

Actress Sela Ward has been cast to play the President of the United States in 20^th Century Fox’s Independence Day 2.

Known for her roles in CSI: NY and most recently, David Fincher’s Gone Girl, Ward will be playing President Lanford in the upcoming feature, which will bring back director Roland Emmerich. Both Ward and Emmerich have previously worked together on 2004’s global warming thriller The Day After Tomorrow.

The film will include returning cast members Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch and Brent Spiner, as well as a cast of franchise newcomers that includes Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Travis Tope, Joey King, Maika Monroe and Brent Spiner. Bill Pullman, who played President Thomas J. Whitmore in the original Independence Day, will be returning for the sequel.

The predecessor, about aliens coming to invade and destroy the earth, debuted in the summer of 1996 with $50.2 million domestically, and went on to earn an impressive $817.4 million worldwide.

James Woods and Nicholas Wright are joining the team to pen the script, alongside Carter Blanchard and Dean Devlin.

Independence Day 2 is slated to release June 24, 2016, nearly 20 years after the original was released. Filming for the action thriller is scheduled to begin in New Mexico later this month.