I Am Legend sequel starring Will Smith and Michael B Jordan is officially in the works
Iconic Hollywood producer Akiva Goldsman has confirmed the news so many have been dying to hear for years: we're getting a second I Am Legend movie.
The legendary film producer from Warner sat down with Deadline to get into the weeds about the upcoming sequel, revealing it will star Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan.
He also confirmed the long-awaited second film will 'trace back to the original [Richard] Matheson book' and will explore the after effects of the film's alternate ending.
Yes, that's right: alternate ending.
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"This [sequel] will start a few decades later than the first,” he said.
“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," he said.
"I don’t know if they’ll climb up to the Empire State building, but the possibilities are endless."
Goldsman said the sequel will remain more faithful to the original 1954 text of the same name by American horror writer Richard Matheson.
At the end of the original film, Will Smith's character, Dr. Robert Neville, decides to sacrifice himself in order to save Anna (Alice Braga) and Ethan (Charlie Tahan).
Dr Neville manages to find a cure just in time and lets Anna and Ethan deliver it to authorities to end the infection apocalypse.
However, there was an alternate ending on the DVD that showed Smith's character not kill himself along with the Darkseekers.
He has a moment with the alpha male and realises they see him as the villain due to his years of research on them.
It's unclear how Michael B. Jordan's character will fit into the sequel but there's no doubt it will be a fantastic movie.
Fans certainly lapped up the 2007 film, with the movie taking home a massive USD$585 million (AUD$847 million, £486 million) worldwide.
So, it would make sense that the studio has been trying to emulate the original film's success for years.
Goldsman wasn't able to elaborate more on the I Am Legend sequel, but he did have more juicy gossip up his sleeve that he was willing to share.
He confirmed that fans will get a sequel to Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves, as part of the producer's triumphant return to Warner Bros. Pictures.
"We’re starting with ... the sequel to Constantine with Keanu Reeves that Francis Lawrence is going to direct," he said, as per Deadline.
"We’re doing it with JJ Abrams, and Francis and Keanu and I have been pretty deep in the story breaking stage."
The original movie was supposed to be a one-off, but with a strong lead in Reeves, a good story, and USD$280 million (AUD$405 million, £243 million) in worldwide box office earnings, fans held hope for a Constantine comeback.
Reeves will reprise his role as supernatural exorcist and demonologist John Constantine.
We can hardly wait.
Topics: Michael B Jordan, Will Smith, TV and Film, Celebrity
Rachel Lang