By Paul Chavez for MailOnline
Jessie Usher has been cast in the lead role of the upcoming Independence Day sequel, 20 years after the original starring Will Smith.
The 23-year-old actor will portray the son of Smith’s character Captain Steven Hiller who helped save the planet from an alien invasion in the 1996 sci-fi blockbuster, according to an article by The Hollywood Reporter.
Jessie currently portrays fictional professional basketball player Cam Calloway in the Starz series Survivor’s Remorse that has real NBA star LeBron James as one of its executive producers.
He also portrayed American football player Lyle Hugginson in the Cartoon Network series Level Up and its pilot movie of the same name.
The Maryland native also played a high school football player in the 2014 sports drama When The Game Stands Tall that also starred Jim Caviezel, Laura Dern and Michael Chiklis.
Roland Emmerich, 59, who directed the original Independence Day has returned to direct the sequel.
The native of Stuttgart, West Germany has directed films that have grossed more than $3billion at the worldwide box office.
Roland’s directing credits include White House Down, The Day After Tomorrow and The Patriot.
It was reported in November that Twentieth Century Fox had given the green-light for filming to begin in May.
The sequel has been in the works for some time and it was revealed in 2013 that Will would not be returning because he was ‘too expensive’ to hire.
The original was released two days before the Fourth of July holiday in 1996 and grossed $817million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo.
The sequel has been scheduled to be released on June 24, 2016.