The daily gossip: Will Smith might be in those Independence Day sequels after all, and more

1. Will Smith might be in those Independence Day sequels after all

Welcome back to Independence Day, Will. Director Roland Emmerich, who's currently prepping two follow-up sequels to his 1996 blockbuster Independence Day, has hinted that Will Smith, who had originally opted out of the sequels, might be appearing in the films after all. "Now we have a meeting planned, we want to talk about it. Anything can happen," Emmerich told Digital Spy. Emmerich had previously told the Daily News that Smith wouldn't appear because he's "too expensive" and "too much of a marquee name." But now that Smith's recent After Earth has almost completely negated both of those points, negotiations are suddenly proceeding a little more smoothly. [Digital Spy]

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2. Star Trek Into Darkness screenwriter Bob Orci lashes out against fans

It may have been a box-office hit, but hardcore Trekkies didn't take too kindly to this summer's Star Trek Into Darkness, which eschewed the series' longstanding tradition of intellectual sci-fi in favor of explosions and backflips. But the film has one major defender: Its own screenwriter, Robert Orci, who recently vented his irritation at fan site TrekMovie.com. "As I love to say, there is a reason why I get to write the movies, and you don't," said Orci, adding that Star Trek Into Darkness has "infinetly [sic] more social commentary than [Raiders of the Lost Ark] in every Universe." Apparently Orci's qualifications for writing Star Trek movies don't include proper capitalization or spell-check. [Daily Dot]

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3. Now Ian McKellen is going to play Sherlock Holmes

Between the BBC's Sherlock, CBS' Elementary, and those Robert Downey Jr. movies nobody really likes, the world has been united behind a single plea: We don't have enough Sherlock Holmes adaptations! Fortunately, Bill Condon has heard our cries. The director's next project will be A Slight Trick of the Mind, an Ian McKellen-starring adaptation of Mitch Cullin's novel about an elderly Holmes who's haunted by a long-unsolved case — presumably something like "how can we possibly milk some more money out of this popular public domain character?" [Deadline]

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4. There's a Baldwin family expose on the way

Watch out, Baldwin brothers: For the first and only time in your careers, you're about to get some bad publicity. Radar Online reports that James Edstrom, a former friend of the Baldwins — and, presumably, a current enemy of the Baldwins — plans to publish a tell-all book that he promises will be "a horror." Anyone who can't wait until the book's release to get some dirt on the Baldwins is advised to pick up the New York Post and flip to a random page. [Radar Online]

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5. Benedict Cumberbatch has been named the British Artist of the Year

Today in inevitable news: Benedict Cumberbatch has been selected as this year's winner of the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year, a British honor bestowed on an exceptionally British person by a panel of British people. Though the actor's breakthrough performance is the title role in the BBC's Sherlock, 2013 has taken his fame to new heights with major roles in films like Star Trek Into Darkness and The Fifth Estate. Though if we're really being honest, just being named Benedict Cumberbatch is British enough to deserve the award anyway. [E! Online]