Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan team for 'I Am Legend' sequel (original) (raw)
Here's to hoping there aren't any dogs this time.
Published on March 4, 2022 06:58PM EST
The mutant apocalypse continues.
I Am Legend — the massive 2007 post-apocalyptic blockbuster that starred Will Smith — is getting a sequel from Warner Bros, Deadline reports. Smith is set to star in and produce the film alongside Michael B. Jordan, who will be new to the franchise.
The original film, which grossed 256.4milliondomesticallyand256.4 million domestically and 256.4milliondomesticallyand585.4 million worldwide, followed U.S. Army virologist LTC Robert Neville, the sole survivor in New York City trying to find a cure after a genetically engineered cancer cure either killed or turned 99 percent of all people into vampiric cannibalistic mutants called Darkseekers. (It also features a heartbreaking scene between Smith and a dog.)
Plot details for the film are not being revealed at this time, but the news of Smith's starring turn are interesting, considering that his character valiantly sacrifices himself in order to get the cure safely out of the Darkseekers' reach in the first film. However, a very different alternate ending on the 2008 special edition DVD featured Smith's character, alive, abandoning his research and experiments when he realizes that maybe he is the monster.
Smith himself seemed to confirm the news on Friday, sharing a still of a decimated New York on his Instagram, tagging Jordan in the caption-free post.
Akiva Goldsman, who adapted the Richard Matheson 1954 novel of the same name for the original film alongside Mark Protosevich, is also slated to return as writer and producer. Francis Lawrence directed I Am Legend, but a director for the sequel has not yet been determined.
In addition to Jordan, Elizabeth Raposo is producing via their Outlier Society banner, meanwhile Smith and Westbrook Studios Co-President, Head of Motion Pictures, Jon Mone will produce the project alongside Ryan Shimazaki for Westbrook Studios. James Lassiter is serving as executive producer. Goldsman and Greg Lessans will also produce via Weed Road Pictures.
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