Warner Bros. recently announced that after over 15 years of wishful thinking, a sequel to the hit 2007 post-apocalyptic thriller I Am Legend is moving forward. Not only that, but Will Smith will reprise his leading role … but there’s a catch. Namely, how do you make a movie when your main character is dead?
Spoilers ahead!
The original film was loosely based on the 1954 novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. In the film, Will Smith played Dr. Robert Neville, a scientist who is the sole survivor of an uprising of mutant vampire creatures who have taken over the world. With his loyal German shepherd Sam by his side, Neville roams the streets of Manhattan, which have been totally reclaimed by nature. His only goal is to stay alive so he can create a cure for the mutations with his own immune blood. He has also trapped a mutant woman to experiment on in his basement laboratory.
In the end, Neville meets Anna (Alice Braga) and her son Ethan (Charlie Tahan), who also survived. The theatrical version has Neville sacrificing his own life to save theirs, but the bonus DVD alternate ending was a bit different. In that ending, the doctor makes peace with the Darkseekers and returns his captive to them. His entire perspective shifts, and he sees that to them, he is the evil one. After making peace, he leaves the city with Anna and Ethan to search for other survivors.
I Am Legend 2 will be based on the alternate ending, not the theatrical ending
The alternate ending found on the original 2007 DVDs aligns more closely with the book, which sees a peace struck between Neville and the eventual development of a vampire civilization. Not only will this starting point allow Smith to return to the leading role, but it will enable the filmmakers to borrow from the success of the HBO drama The Last of Us. Writer and producer Akiva Goldman told Deadline that the thrilling post-apocalyptic series was a big inspiration for the Legend sequel.
“This will start a few decades later than the first,” Goldman explained. “I’m obsessed with The Last of Us, where we see the world just post-apocalypse but also after a 20-30-year lapse. You see how the earth reclaims the world, and there’s something beautiful in the question of, as man steps away from being the primary tenant, what happens?”
He went on to say “the possibilities are endless,” and promised “a little more fidelity to the original text.”
Who else is working on I Am Legend 2?
In addition to Smith, Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan will star in and produce the sequel. There’s no word yet on what part Jordan will play. Additionally, Braga told Collider she was “super surprised and very curious” to hear about a sequel, and she would be more than happy to reprise the role of Anna.
Goldman returns to his writing duties for I Am Legend 2, but it’s uncertain whether director Francis Lawrence will return to direct the sequel. Lawrence, who recently directed The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is also working on a sequel to Constantine.
When and where can we watch the sequel?
The film is still in early production, but it appears that the script is finished. Variety reports that while speaking to the crowd at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, Smith confirmed that Jordan will join as co-star and producer, and that the new story will not be a prequel, as previously thought.
“I have a call with Michael B. Jordan tomorrow. We’re really close, script just came in,” said Smith. “You have to be a real I Am Legend buff to know this, but in the first, theatrical version, my character dies, but on the DVD there was an alternate version of the ending where my character lived. We are going with the mythology of the DVD version. I can’t tell you anything more, but Michael B. Jordan is in.”
With an expedited production schedule, it’s possible we could see the Smith and Jordan-led horror-thriller in theaters as early as the fall of 2024. All we need is a director!
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
Published: Jan 2, 2024 02:23 pm