Will Smith will return for an Independence Day (a.k.a. ID4) sequel, and maybe even a third movie.

IESB says a source has told them that the major movie star is locked in for not only Independence Day 2, but a third instalment as well. The plan is reportedly to shoot both films back-to-back, a process which could begin in 2011 — 15 years after the release of the original ID4.

20th Century Fox has been kicking the idea around for a while but has hit various roadblocks, according to IESB, one of them being Smith’s price tag. The star commands $20 million up front plus first dollar gross. This was apparently enough to keep the movie from getting made. However, now that Fox has all that extra Avatar money, it’s reportedly a different story.

Fox has yet to confirm the news but, if it is all true, Roland Emmerich will return to direct. The project will be his next directorial pursuit after Anonymous, a thriller that makes the case for Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, as the real author of the works attributed to William Shakespeare. Smith also has projects in development, the next of which might be Men in Black 3.

Independence Day is about a hostile alien invasion of Earth. Released in 1996, it was the highest grossing film of that year and has since earned a total of $817,400,891 at the worldwide box office.

Meanwhile, Fox is also planning an Avatar sequel, a well as reboots the Predator and Alien franchises.