A belated sequel to I Am Legend has gotten the green light, and this time Will Smith will be joined by A-list star Michael B. Jordan. Deadline reported on Friday that Smith, Jordan and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman have all closed deals to appear in the new movie. However, the project still needs to secure a director.
I Am Legend premiered in 2007 with mixed to positive reviews. It was based on a 1954 novel by Richard Matheson which had no sequel, meaning that the new movie will consist of original material. Goldsman will write that material, extending Matheson’s fictional apocalyptic timeline which he adapted to the screen over a decade ago. Goldsman won an Oscar for writing A Beautiful Mind back in 2002. The original I Am Legend was directed by Francis Lawrence, but so far there is no mention of him joining the revival.
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Of course, fans will really want details on the plot of this untitled sequel, but those will reportedly be kept as secret as possible. The 2007 film was set in 2012, three years into the outbreak of a genetically engineered virus that turns survivors into a cross between vampires, zombies and general monsters. It followed Smith as Dr. Robert Neville, a virologist who is curiously immune to the virus and who fears he may be one of the last people on earth.
The doctor fills his time by broadcasting in search for other survivors and scavenging for supplies in the ruins of New York City. He also has set up a home laboratory where he tries to synthesize a cure for the virus, which was originally based on the genetic blueprint of the measles. His only companion is his German Shepherd Sam, who has not been confirmed to return in the sequel so far.
The fact that Smith is returning for this sequel raises lots of questions about the continuity. His character died at the end of the original, heroically sacrificing himself to save a few other people and preserve the cure that he had spent three years developing on his own. Of course, Jordan wil presumably play a new character. In the original, Willow Smith played Neville’s daughter, but there’s no word on whether she will return either.
It’s no surprise that Warner Bros. is interested in reviving I Am Legend in the wake of a real-life pandemic, although it will be a difficult topic to navigate successfully.ย I Am Legend is streaming now on Tubi with ads, or on digital stores for rental or purchase.
