A sequel for I Am Legend starring Will Smith is in the works, nearly 15 years on from the $585 million blockbuster that hit the big screen in 2007.
The movie’s original star Will Smith, will return as Dr. Robert Neville. He will also take on the duty of producer in the upcoming sequel.
Black Panther and Creed star Michael B. Jordan, joins Smith. His role is yet to be revealed but he’s also reportedly producing the project alongside Will Smith.
Wait. Didn’t Will Smith Die in ‘I Am Legend?’
Fans may be confused about Will Smith reprising his role, seeing as he died during the original. However, Akiva Goldsman, who returns as writer after adapting the 1954 Richard Matheson novel, said Matheson’s book features an alternate ending not included in the first film.
“This will start a few decades later than the first,” he explained in a statement, as per Deadline. “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? That will be especially visual in New York. I don’t know if they’ll climb up to the empire state building, but the possibilities are endless.”
Goldsman added, “We trace back to the original Matheson book, and the alternate ending as opposed to the released ending in the original film. What Matheson was talking about was that man’s time on the planet as the dominant species had come to an end. That’s a really interesting thing we’re going to get to explore. There will be a little more fidelity to the original text.”
Meanwhile, in other Will Smith news, the 54-year-old actor and his Bad Boys co-star Martin Lawrence recently announced that they were reuniting for a fourth installment of the popular series.