“I Am Legend” fans already knew a sequel was on the way, with Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan set to star. But there’s a slight problem with that news: spoiler alert (for a movie almost 20 years old), Smith’s character died at the end of Francis Lawrence‘s 2007 film. So how is the actor back for the sequel, especially after his persona non grata status in Hollywood has only recently been revoked?
Deadline has an update there, courtesy of writer and producer Akiva Goldsman. At Collider’s “Producers On Producing” panel at Comic-Con, Goldsman teased that “there will be some good news shortly” about the sequel, but also clarified how Smith will be back to reprise his role as Dr. Robert Neville. It’s simple, really: the sequel will make an alternative cut of the 2007 film canon; the one where Neville doesn’t die at the end.
“We’re sequelizing the alternative cut,” Goldsman confirmed. “Where Will lives and things don’t go well for humanity.” Goldsman also confirmed that he’s sat down with Smith and Jordan to discuss the script, with enough chatter about story to yield a new draft. “The world returns in a way that is kind of spectacular – an exciting playground for all of us – not your father’s “I Am Legend,”” Goldsman said.
Not that the first “I Am Legend” movie was an original anyway. The 2007 blockbuster adapts Richard Matheson‘s 1954 novel of the same name: a book previously adapted in movies like “The Last Man On Earth” and “The Omega Man,” and an inspiration for several more. But of course “I Am Legend” is the most recent, and most financially lucrative, of all of those films. Lawrence’s film made $585.4 million off a $150 million budget, launching Lawrence as a blockbuster director. And it was another hit for ’00s era Smith, arguably the last of a series of films (including “I, Robot” and “Bad Boys II) where his leading man status was at its highest.
Obviously, that’s not the case anymore, but Warner Bros. wants to make this “I Am Legend” sequel happen. Jordan confirmed back in June that “we’re still working on the script,” but “it doesn’t have a release date or anything like that,” so stay tuned for an official announcement from the video on that soon. Smith and Jordan also produce “I Am Legend 2” through their respective studios, Westbrook and Outlier Society.
But maybe more news for the “I Am Legend” sequel will make the round at Comic-Con this weekend? Stay tuned on that.