20th Century Fox pushes 'Independence Day 2' w/ Will Smith & Jeff Goldblum to 2016 to make room for 2015 blockbusters like the 'Fantastic Four' reboot

Earlier this week, 20^th Century Fox announced a list of movies that will be released in 2015 and one big name was clearly omitted from that lists: Independence Day 2. The Roland Emmerich sequel to the 1996 blockbuster has been getting lots of buzz with casting news surrounding original stars Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith as well as newcomer Michael B. Jordan, so why wasn't it on the list of new releases for 2015? Well it turns out that the film had been pushed back to 2016, which marks the 20^th anniversary of the original film!

The studio has yet to explain why the film has been pushed back a year, but it could be to make room for the other projects announced. A new film reuniting actress Melissa McCarthy and directed Paul Feig, Susan Cooper, is hitting theaters that year. Michael Fassbender's Assassin's Creed and the Fantastic Four reboot are also bigger projects coming out in 2015, too.

With Fantastic Four's release date being in 2015, pushing back Independence Day 2 could be explained by scheduling reasons surrounding star Michael B. Jordan. The young actor is set to play Johnny Storm, also known as The Human Torch, in this Marvel Comics reboot, so that could be a reason.  

But if we're talking about busy schedules, getting Will Smith to commit to a film is maybe the hardest task for any new movie project. The in-demand actor is one of the biggest names in the world, but it looks like this later release date will work out. Plus the 20^th anniversary worked out quite well!