Will Smith Boarding Time-Travel Thriller ‘Selling Time'; ‘Independence Day 2′ Still an Option?

Will Smith's turn in M. Night Shyamalan's 'After Earth' didn't prevent the film from failing to score big with audiences, but perhaps this next role will. He's in the midst of boarding a new sci-fi time-travel thriller, 'Selling Time,' in the lead role.

According to The Wrap, Smith had been circling the part several years ago when Fox was first developing the project, but the actor had to drop it in light of his busy schedule. While no official deal is in place as of yet, Smith is now reportedly on track to take the lead once again.

The story itself sounds like a mashup of Bill Murray's 'Groundhog Day' and Justin Timberlake's 'In Time' -- a man sells several years of his life expectancy in order to relive the worst day of his life. Dan McDermott, DreamWorks' former president of television, wrote the original script treatment, as well as the upcoming rewrite; Spike Lee, Steven and Derick Martini, and more have already taken a turn at penning the story.

Smith, who's currently producing the Quvenzhané Wallis-starring 'Annie' remake and will star alongside Margot Robbie ('The Wolf of Wall Street') in the con-man/woman flick 'Focus,' could also be up for a role in Rolland Emmerich's 'Independence Day 2.' However, word on that front seems to change with the new day. The director recently told The Playlist that two scripts have been drafted -- one featuring Smith, and the other leaving him out in the event he cannot take the role.

Before the film gets up and running, we'll have a chance to see whether this sort of story will hit the right notes with audiences -- Tom Cruise's 'Edge of Tomorrow,' which itself is a sci-fi version of 'Groundhog Day' where his character continuously dies only to relive the same day over again, is set to come out March 7, 2014.