At this point in his career, it may not be clear whether Will Smith has the ability to roll with a joke, but he definitely knows how to get jiggy with sequels. In a career exuding excellence that started with a slapstick comedy sitcom and went on for more than three decades, the actor has managed to be a constant in most of the franchises that remain evergreen. A trait prominent in the careers of veterans like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This is why when a director responsible for one of Smith’s first major blockbuster successes revealed that the actor rejected his sequel proposal, his fans were taken aback.

Why did Will Smith reject an in-demand sequel of one of his best?

Among the reasons why Will Smith has managed to have such an opulent career, is his choice of movies. This is why when Independence Day writer, Dean Devlin, told Yahoo Entertainment that “All of a sudden, Will turned it down,” fans were quick to find a fault in the stars. What further did not sit right was that Smith had earlier agreed to the entire idea.

The shocking turn of events had to do something with a fear of sequels. A trait that he and Ryan Reynolds could bond over. It is interesting, however, that the actor followed Independence Day up with Men In Black.

A high-on drama project like Six Degrees of Separation is followed by a Bad Boys, and an Ali is followed by a Men In Black movie. Smith’s career trajectory is a manual on how to avoid being typecast in Hollywood. It is almost ironic that his slapping Chris Rock became a global headline while his slapping fans with versatility, one after the other, went unnoticed.

The only time he did get stuck with similar movies back to back was with Independence Day and Men In Black. However, even they differed by a huge margin. While Smith may have just wanted an out of alien-centric movies, it brought doom upon what could have essentially been a blockbuster hit.

Is Smith responsible for the Independence Day sequel disaster?

A $306,169,268 million box office collection in just the United States was the crime of Independence Day. This was further followed by more chart-topping collections in other countries. Why one would not jump at the chance to replicate the same success again is a mystery. Especially if that someone is Will Smith who is currently filming Bad Boys 4.

While one may never know the impact of what an Independence Day sequel would have had on the actor, the actor’s rejection pushed the movie right off the cliff and made it land in development hell. He may have not been interested in the sequel, but Fox Studios was. The result was a lackluster sequel that the producer himself confesses to not being “crazy” about. This is how Will Smith turned Dean Devlin’s treasure into trash.

Did you know that Will Smith was set to star in the Independence Day sequel? Let us know in the comments below.