The 'Independence Day' sequel will begin filming next year.
The long-anticipated follow-up to the 1996 sci-fi adventure starring Will Smith, has been given the green light to start filming in May with a release date set for 2016.
Although Smith, 46, hasn't signed up to reprise his role as Captain Steven Hillier, the film's original director Roland Emmerich is tipped to return to helm the movie.
The studio behind the film, 20th Century Fox, will begin casting as soon as Emmerich confirms he is on board, reports Deadline.
Emmerich is also rumoured to be producing alongside the movie's original writer Dean Devlin and 'The Day After Tomorrow' composer Harald Kloser.
Carter Blanchard will write the script after a first draft was penned by James Vanderbilt.
Jeff Goldblum, 64, who starred alongside Smith in the original alien invasion movie, is also on board to reprise his role as David Levinson.
He previously said: "They've talked to me about it, and I've talked to them about it and they're excited and I'm anxious and eager to see - I haven't read anything. I think they're trying to put it together."
The film will open in US cinemas on June 24, 2016, and will make its debut across the pond on July 1.

Years & Years, George The Poet and James Bay have been shortlisted for the Brits Critics' Choice Award.
The three acts have been tipped for a musical breakthrough in the next 12 months, with the winner - who will follow in the footsteps of Sam Smith, Emeli Sande, Ellie Goulding, Jessie J and Adele in taking the prize - being announced on December 4 before being presented with the accolade at the Brit Awards ceremony on February 25.
London trio Years & Years - comprised of Olly Alexander, Mikey Goldsworthy, Emre Turkmen - are stunned to have made the shortlist.
They said: "We're so grateful to be making music and having this sort of recognition is crazy and ridiculous and nuts in a really good way."
George The Poet - whose real name is George Mpanga - has already worked with 'Let It Be' singer Labrinth and 'La La La' hitmaker Naughty Boy, but was amazed he had been shortlisted for the prestigious prize.
The Cambridge-educated spoken word artist said: "I feel privileged to have been shortlisted for the Brits Critics' Choice Award. I always dreamed of reaching people and this nomination shows me that I'm on track."
The third nominee, singer-songwriter James Bay, also found it difficult to comprehend his nomination for the prize, despite having supported talents such as Tom Odell and John Newman in concert.
The 24-year-old emerging talent gushed: "I still can't believe it. As much as I hoped, being nominated for the Brits Critics' Choice Award is not something I ever imagined would actually happen. What a huge honour,"
Last year saw 22-year-old Sam Smith scoop the gong from competitors Chlöe Howl and Ella Eyre, and has since gone on to top charts around the world with his debut album 'In The Lonely Hour'.

Sinead O'Connor thinks Band Aid 30 critics should "shut the f**k up".
The 'Nothing Compares 2 U' hitmaker was one of the artists who appears on the new version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas Time?' and has blasted stars including Emeli Sande - who also appears on the record but has complained about the lyrics - Lily Allen and Damon Albarn following their gripes about the charity track.
Sinead told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "I think everyone should shut the f**k up. If you didn't like the lyrics you shouldn't have agreed to sing the song.
"I think it's smug of Lily Allen to say it's smug. The assumption that anyone performing on the record has not privately given money is exactly that, an assumption. And who gives a f**k what Damon f***ing Albarn thinks?"
Sinead's comments come after 'Air Balloon' singer Lily branded the record "smug" and insisted stars who took part should have donated to the Ebola crisis privately if they really wanted to help the situation in West Africa.
She said: "I prefer to do my charitable bit by donating actual money and not being lumped in a with a bunch of people like that.
"It's like the success club and I'm not really in that club. I don't think I'm above it all - I'm way below it. But there's something a bit smug about it."
And Emeli took to twitter at the weekend to apologise if the song "caused offence" and claimed she tried to write her own lyrics to the song.
She said: "I agree the lyric needs changing. In fact I feel a whole new song is required. Angelique Kidjo and I made and sang our own edits. Unfortunately, none of these made the final cut."
Meanwhile, Blur singer Damon questioned whether the single was the right way to tackle the problem, proclaiming there are "problems with our idea of charity" when celebrity campaigns "balloon out of nothing".

Coldplay have unveiled an interactive video for 'Ink'.
The award-winning band has premiered the innovative clip which gives viewers the option to plot their own storyline with more than 300 possible journeys available to choose from.
Written, directed and animated by Los Angeles agency Blind, the video follows an animated traveller searching the world for his missing lover, and allows fans to make real-time choices as to where he journeys next.
The band - made up of Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion - will release the track as the fourth single from their sixth studio album, 'Ghost Stories', which is now available along with their 'Ghost Stories Live 2014' concert film and live recording.
The video follows recent comments from Chris Martin, 37, who revealed Katy Perry was an inspiration for his songwriting when making the number one album, explaining he is a big fan of the 'This Is How We Do' singer.
Speaking about the idea behind previous hit 'A Sky Full Of Stars', he said: "I'll tell you the truth. I was listening to a lot of Katy Perry,
"A lot of her songs have the same chord sequence the whole time. Your body feels comfortable with them and then the melody's changing on top so there's a groove you really get in to and then also you're kept interested... So I was like, 'That's an amazing way of doing songs.'
"So I was like f**k it! I love that stuff. So I wanted to have a song that comes from that world."
The 'Ink' video is available to experience on the Coldplay website (http://www.coldplay.com/ink/).

Britain's Prince William and Duchess Catherine are "huge" fans of 'Homeland'.
The royal couple - who are expecting their second child, a sibling for 16-month-old Prince George - love cosy nights in watching the CIA drama on UK TV station Channel 4 and were thrilled when Damian Lewis' character Nicholas Brody made a brief return at the weekend.
Speaking after receiving an OBE from the prince yesterday (26.11.14), Damian revealed: "He said, 'Catherine and I are huge 'Homeland' fans.
"He said, 'You appeared again the other night briefly, and we all got very excited.' Which is true -- but it was also on Sunday night, which means he is absolutely up to date with the latest episode, and I'm amazed they have time for that."
The 43-year-old actor was thrilled to learn he would receive the honour and claims the medal means he will now have to show more responsibility.
He said: "I had no idea, so it was a big, big surprise.
I remember when I heard I was being awarded it, it was a little bit like, 'Now you've got to prove it.'
"It was a bit like being asked to be a prefect, now I have to be extremely responsible."

Simon Cowell and Lauren Silverman will go "all out" for Thanksgiving.
The 'X Factor' judge and his American girlfriend may be in London for the US holiday today (27.11.14), but the couple still plan to celebrate in a big way.
A source said: "They're all in London for the holiday.
"Lauren's doing all the cooking - she's going all out. Even though they're overseas, they still celebrate all the American holidays."
And it seems the celebrations have already started as the 55-year-old music mogul - who has 10-month-old son Eric with Lauren - hosted friends and family for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner last night (26.11.14) and was stunned with the amount of foods his guests consumed, in particular his fellow 'X Factor' judge Louis Walsh.
He tweeted: "Had a great pre Thanksgiving dinner at my house tonight. Family and friends are everything. And Louis ate so much I think he will explode.
"He literally ate all night long. And then asked if he could take some more food home with him.(sic)"
After their Thanksgiving festivities, Simon will be concentrating on the remaining few weeks of 'The X Factor' and then planning a Christmas holiday with his family.
The insider told E! News: "For Christmas, they'll be on holiday. Most likely Barbados, that's where they always go. Simon loves it there."

Justin Theroux loves to "scare" Jennifer Aniston by hiding in her closet.
The 'Cake' actress says her fiance - who she got engaged to in August 2012 - always makes her laugh and one of his favourite jokes involves surprising her by appearing from unexpected places.
She said: "He makes me laugh constantly. He loves to surprise me. He loves to scare me. He hides in closets for 20 [minutes]. It literally happened last night.
"We were shutting down the house. I might get distracted cleaning up whatever and I don't come right away, then I'll get to the bedroom and he'll come flying out of the closet.
"And I'll go, 'Have you been waiting there for 25 minutes? You, really, for 25 minutes in the closet?' "
The 45-year-old actress also admitted Justin, 43, "drives her crazy" because he is "brilliant" at whatever he turns his hand to.
Speaking on 'The Talk', she added: "He's my creative crush because he's just brilliant at everything he does.
"He's a wonderful actor. He's a brilliant comedy writer and he's also a beautiful artist and a director. He does everything really well - it drives me crazy - and he's a beautiful human being."

Harry Styles stayed in Los Angeles to party after the American Music Awards instead of flying to Australia with his One Direction bandmates.
The 20-year-old heartthrob and bandmate Zayn Malik, 21, decided to stay in the US city for an extra day to celebrate their hat-trick of accolades while the rest of the group - Niall Horan, 20, Liam Payne, 21, and Louis Tomlinson, 22 - made their way to Sydney for their appearance at the ARIA awards.
Harry and Zayn touched down just in time to join their bandmates on the red carpet but Niall has now revealed the reason behind their late arrival.
He said: "What happened there was, we'd just won three American Music Awards, and some people wanted to get straight to Australia and Harry here wanted to have a little party in Los Angeles."
And while Harry agreed with his pal he also claimed he'd been suffering with earache and didn't want to risk making it worse by getting an earlier flight.
He explained to Australia's Kiis FM: "I also didn't feel very well so I didn't want to fly. I wanted to wait out the storm to fly. My ear hurts."
The 'Steal My Girl' hitmakers also opened up about having their underwear stolen during their last visit to Australia, when a superfan pinched a pair of Liam's boxer shorts from his hotel balcony.
Harry joked: "Now we leave them out as bait, we just leave pants around everywhere and set traps."
The ladies' man added that they'd all been sent a pair of personalised Speedo swimming trunks with their names emblazoned on them.
He added: "I actually got a Speedo with my name on it. I've got mine on right now."

Katie Price has gone into hospital to get her breast implants replaced.
The 36-year-old star took to her YouGossip site to post a number of pictures of herself on her hospital bed as she prepares to go under the knife, including one photograph of her new implants sitting on a table.
In a post attached to the picture of her new boobs, she wrote: "Like I've been saying out with the old in with the new 😉 (sic)"
Katie - who last year revealed her assets are a size 32DD after previously being as big as 32FF - also revealed she was "feeling great" ahead of her treatment, which is thought to be a breast reduction.
She wrote: "Here I am in my hospital bed feeling great :))) (sic)"
The former model - who previously boosted her boobs from a natural size 32B to a size 32DD when she was just 19 - also posted a picture of herself looking at the camera and another cheeky snap of herself down towards her assets.
She captioned the images: "Omg omg omg :))))))
"What can I see :))))) (sic)"
The mother-of-five's latest session under the knife, which is thought to be her seventh time in surgery in a bid to get perfect breasts, comes after she revealed earlier this year she wanted to make her boobs "pert" as an "early Christmas present" for her husband Kieran Hayler.
When asked if she would have more cosmetic surgery, she replied: "I will do my boobs again ... they were amazing before I met Kieran.
"They were literally amazing, the best they'd ever been. But then three months later, I'm pregnant. I think I'll go a little bit smaller this time and go pert."
What's more, the star - who has kids Harvey, 12, from her past relationship with Dwight Yorke, Junior, nine, and Princess Tiaamii, seven, from her marriage to Peter Andre, and Jett, 15 months, and three-month-old Bunny with Kieran - recently revealed she was going to sell her old implants to raise money for breast cancer charities.
She said: "We should sell these implants for charity. I've got more pairs in the safe.
"I love them but I'd sell them in The Sun for a breast cancer charity. I can even sign them with a marker pen.
"You could have these very breasts right from inside me in a few weeks."

Linda Henry will stand trial for allegedly hurling racial abuse.
The 'EastEnders' actress - who plays Shirley Carter in the BBC1 soap - is accused of hurling abuse in a row outside restaurant Jamie's Italian in Greenwich, South East London, in September but entered a not guilty to racially aggravated harassment plea via her lawyer at Bexley magistrates court yesterday (26.11.14) and has vowed to fight the claims "tooth and nail".
A source said: "Linda is horrified at the accusation and intends to fight it tooth and nail.
"Those close to her know the truth and the type of person she is.
"She has never been in trouble before, has never been accused of this type of thing before and is determined to prove she is innocent of these deeply offensive claims."
A manager for the Jamie Oliver eatery said only they were not part of the dispute.
The employee, Tarl Caple, told The Sun newspaper: "Our staff were not involved."
A trial has been set for February 11, and the former 'Bad Girls' star - who has 21-year-old daughter Ellie with husband Stavros Virilis - has vowed to clear her name.
Her spokesperson said: "Linda will be defending the allegation."
The BBC declined to comment, but the 51-year-old actress will continue her filming commitments as normal.

James Hill loved his "banter" with Lord Alan Sugar.
The 28-year-old business owner doesn't have bitter feelings towards Lord Sugar despite being fired on 'The Apprentice' last night (26.11.14) and thought they sparked well off each other.
Speaking about the BBC One star, James said: "I loved him. That was the whole reason why I wanted to go into this process.
"[His insults] were just a bit of banter."
James was project manager of Team Summit for the selling task, which involved selling goods at a country market.
Since his team took home a paltry £4,757.50 compared to Team Tenacity's £30,615.25, James found himself in the boardroom, alongside his fellow candidates Sanjay Sood-Smith and Roisin Hogan with Lord Sugar eventually deciding to fire the Chesterfield-born James.
Lord Sugar showed some compassion to James when he let him go, saying: I find it very hard to demoralise somebody with such fighting spirit. But James, what I want to say to you is this: culture that bit of good stuff about you, then you will go somewhere, you will go somewhere. But it is with regret James that I'm going to have to say to you, you're fired."
James was touched by what the 67-year-old business magnate had to say to him.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I think we got on really well and I really admire him and it was overwhelming the things he said to me when I got fired, it was so nice.
"I've worked so hard in my life and I've had so many tough times and for someone like that, that's done so well, to actually see something in me and give me that constructive criticism has made everything worthwhile."

Sam Faiers would "love" to appear on 'Strictly Come Dancing'.
The former 'The Only Way Is Essex' star is keen to have a go on the BBC One dancing competition after watching her ex-boyfriend and former co-star Mark Wright take to the dance floor on this year's series.
She said: "I'd love to do Strictly, to learn a skill and get fit. I've got rhythm, but I can't dance, so I'd have to learn from scratch. I've been watching Mark - he's been doing really well."
The blonde beauty - who briefly dated Mark in 2011 - admitted she hasn't been in contact with the 27-year-old television personality since he started dating his fiancée Michelle Keegan in 2012.
However, Sam has been assured by Mark's sister Jessica Wright that the pair are very happy together and Jess has given her future sister-in-law her seal of approval.
The 23-year-old star told Now magazine: "We don't talk any more. I haven't seen Michelle around Essex yet, but Jess says she's lovely, down-to-earth and is fitting into the family perfectly."
Despite only exiting 'TOWIE' in April this year, Sam has already hinted at a possible return to reality TV in the near future.
She said: "Ideas are being thrown around for next year - I'm trying to pick the perfect one."