Hollywood Desperation: An I Am Legend Sequel with Will Smith?
From Deadline.Com via Movies with Butter:
EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros has closed deals with Akiva Goldsman and Overbrook Entertainment to do another installment of I Am Legend,the 2007 hit film. The intention is for Will Smith to reprise his role as scientist Robert Neville, who was the last man on earth doing battle with a mutated mob in New York City after an apocalyptic man-made virus wiped out the population.
[snip]
The other quandary is this: if it isn’t a prequel, how to get past Smith’s character’s demise at the first film’s end? These of course are semantics in the tent pole game. Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures are casting a continuation of 300, another hit film where all the major characters croaked.
Come on! Is it that hard to just write a new script with Will Smith as a post-apocalyptic action hero? Is it really necessary to spoil I Am Legend with a reheated regurgitation?
I hated that Will Smith “I am Legend movie”. ugh…
At least with a sequel to “300″ they could do the battle of plataea. Or, Themisticles naval battle that essentially occurred at the same time as Thermopylae. Maybe they can get Will Smith to play Themistocles and have a cute doggie, too?
They could do Marathon. If anything, it’s a more inspiring story than Thermopylae.
Since we’re talking about Hollywood, why not Milla Jovovich as Themistocles? She’s good in action roles.
Err, they *already* ruined I Am Legend with the first one.
“I Am Legend” was victim to the same thing that befell the two Asimov movies made, they had their titles applied to fundamentally different stories. So, really, this “sequel” is just another movie stealing the “I Am Legend” title.
I couldn’t agree more. The original story was an interesting exploration of racism, evolution and societal change while the movie was a poorly done study of a man shedding the the constraints of society when deprived of social interaction. The movie barely even touched the main point of the book (vampires forming a post-human society) and that touch was so minor it added nothing to the movie. I spent the first 2/3rds of the movie waiting for them to get to the main point and they just didn’t cover it. Waste of a good concept to take a work like I Am Legend and use to make a generic zombie apocalypse movie.
I hated the movie too… Why consider a sequel or prequel to Legend when they would do better just making another that stayed true to the book? Its not like the audience would be turned off having seen it before, because they haven’t.
Wil Smith could be Dr Neville’s twin brother, Sam. He could be an Air Force scientist, in Colorado. He could drive a hot rod Chevy Volt. And he could even have a cute but vicious dog.
Yeah, that’t the ticket.
Yeah–like City Slickers–Curly’s Gold!
Apparently the thirst for post-apocalypse monsters chasing normal humans is inexhaustible. Even the science fiction pulps from the ’30s weren’t so juvenile.
Note that my DVD of “I Am Legend” has an alternate ending in which Will Smith lives and introduces a cure to the zombies. The theatrical release makes a great deal of butterfly imagery throughout, and that never really pays off in the original version. It pays off big time in the alternate ending.
The so-called “alternate ending” is really the right one. The real story is supposed to be Dr. Neville realizing that he is the monster of legend that the new society has every reason to hate and fear.
I was thinking the same thing. The alternative ending was much, much better than the ending that was eventually released.
The alternative ending turned everything you thought you knew about the zombies on its head, AND it left a great opening for a sequel.
I actually liked the movie. I read the original story after seeing the movie, and thought it was fantastic, too.
I liked the DVD alternative ending better too.
A sequel to “I am Legend”? I was expecting a sequel to “Gladiator” to come out first, the ending of the origional film would need to be re-conned to overcome the death of General Maximus but it may be doable.
Spock “died” at the end of Star Trek 2 but we know what happened later.
If they can make a sequel to Beneath the Planet of the Apes, where Heston blows up the whole flippin’ world, they can sequel anything.
I have a suggestion. How about a remake of Logan’s Run? Great flick. It’s a dystopia about a socialist future where everyone is young and parties from cradle to grave–the only catch is the party’s over for everyone at age thirty–which solves the social security and medicare funding problems. I can see Smith playing the check out police, heroically going after those selfish people who refuse to show up and self-euthanize for the state. The children are the future! Hum, on second thought, I guess the remake would be politically correct, since everyone checks out at thirty there’s no need for medical death panels, but it could just be in bad taste before the presidential election. And Hollywood would have to rewrite Smith’s part as the check out cop going rogue, rebelling against state sanctioned euthanasia.
I wonder if they could get hair salon owners to design the re-make just like the first one did. The original “Logan’s Run” film was subliminal advertising telling us to all stay out of a barbers and run to the nearest salon.
The pasion of the Christ II-The fal of Rome redux
Ok, its only fiction , he was not death, They believed death. or who cares it is movie. get a life
What I’ve always found so silly is how zombies become somehow superhuman – stronger, faster, able to climb up buildings, take all sorts of punishment, but somehow succumb only when their head is cut off.
And why do zombies want to eat only humans? And not other zombies, it has to be fresh humans. With the human population greatly decreased, why can’t the zombies eat deer, they are certainly fast enough to catch deer. And there are millions of cows, pigs, and chickens stuck on farms, why aren’t those animals food?
I can suspend belief when there is a single premise that turns the human condition slight askew. That’s what make science fiction interesting. But these zombie movies have just become a CGI-fest, more akin to a shooter video game. Please, spare us a couple frames of zombie splatter, and spend a couple bucks on a screenwriter.
Um, the zombies in “I Am Legend” do eat what’s at hand. Remember the scene when the deer ran into the empty building and the dog followed him? Will Smith accidentally reveals himself to the zombies when his flashlight illuminates one of them eating that very same deer.
Buzz – There are NO zombies in “I am Legend”, they were Vampires. Zombies don’t burn into ash in sunlight and Vampires possess super human strength and endurance.
A sequel to “I Am Legend” makes perfectly good sense, you bet, no real need to explain away Smith’s “apparent” Suicide of a Thousand Pieces at the end of the movie, no sir. I say this out of a concern for what’s right and logical, and not simply because I want to see a sequel to “Gran Torino”, and I will resent any suggestions to the contrary.
Well, as I write this, it seems that scientists have made a flu virus or something that can/will kill half the population, and they seem to be determined to share their knowledge of how to make this, with The World.
Before we go to our (mass) graves, why not a movie about a bunch of self satisfied yuppie scientists, putting the info on YouTube, a desperate Will Smith trying desperately to stop them, but then, then, the ghost of Washington comes on and quotes the First Amendment of the U S of A… The nice thing about the yuppie scientists will be that they dress well.
Howard the Duck II 3D is looking more likely all the time.
Buzz said what I was going to say, that there was an alternate ending on the DVD. In the theater version, they went for the cheap, let’s blow it all to hell ending. In the DVD version, it was a more thoughtful ending, but they just couldn’t have that for the rubes in theaters. I was kinda upset that the theater version was so dumb compared to the DVD alternate ending.
The short story “I am legend” was exactly that. Short, and leaving a dread for the hideous future. The film “Omega Man”, with Charlton Heston was a sugar coated version with a happier ending. I’m not sure which version is better, but “I am legend” does not warrant a sequel!
So many opportunities:
The Moon is A Harsh Mistress
Glory Road
Dies the Fire and follow on titles
Unfortunately, none of them meet the current political climate
Regards,
Ahem,,,, all you folks who never watched via the DVD there was a ‘Will LIves” ending and I will surmise that will be the ‘IN ‘they use. And to all you overanalizers in the group,stop and watch the movie and leave your preconcieved political tropes at home.
forget these lousy sequels already,i wanna see robin hood with russell crowe finished,at least robin hood didn’t die !!!
Dude. Have you forgotten me?
I was the ultimate incarnation of the “I Am Legend” book.
Hello! “The Omega Man.” 1971.
Remember me? The 2008 film sucked eggs.
Me and the other zombie-like, vampire-like mutants threw tomatoes at the screen.
BOO!
We could do a movie about the entire Obama & Democrat agenda. It’s dead, rotting, and stinks to high heaven, but damn if it doesn’t keep rising from the grave time after time.
Heck, when it comes to Democrats, no idea is too stupid, expensive, or dangerous to resurrect and enact into law.
With the costs of production and distribution – just to begin with – it isn’t any wonder that Hollywood is risk averse…and seemingly spends most of their efforts on re-treads and serials.
(We won’t talk about the irony found in political ideologues -on both sides- who keep dressing up old ideas and policies in new words and phrases…while expecting different results …while also complaining that Hollywood is doing the same thing they’re doing.)
A plague on both their houses, Warren!
– (Vincent Price) begat the Omega Man, which begat I Am Legend.
This can work.
In “I Am Also Legend”, Dwayne Johnson will star as Dr. Neville’s former college roommate from Buffalo. He arrives in NYC 10 minutes after the end of the first movie. He follows Anna to the sanctuary city, raises an army, and returns to re-claim New York City.
In “300 Hebrews” Dwayne Johnson stars as Gideon, who wipes out the Philistines in one night with only 300 soldiers.
I liked Will Smith’s version. And Charlton Heston’s. And Vincent Price’s. What’s one more gonna hurt?
Come on! Is it that hard to just write a new script with Will Smith as a post-apocalyptic action hero? Is it really necessary to spoil I Am Legend with a reheated regurgitation?
Actually,… yes. Originality and creativity are in short supply in Tinseltown these days. And how smart can Hollywood be if it thinks that Z-list actors and actresses like Tina Fey are worth millions?
Besides: Hollywood regularly churns out politically-motivated dogs such as Brokeback Mountain, Redacted, and The Day After Tomorrow that receive tons of awards but flop at the box office. Studio owners need cash cows (or what they think are cash cows) to keep their financial noses above water.
300 II: Electric Bugaloo
Everyone knows that REAL zombies wear black hooded capes, sunglasses, and use catapults to throw fireballs at Charlton Heston.
If it was original they would have to pay a writer for permission to use it. If it’s something they’ve already got the rights to, they can hire the writer and treat him like a rented mule. That’s why IP mills like Marvel and Hasbro are churning out movies — none of the writers have the rights to Transformers or Spider-Man. So they can bypass the writer. Why do Casablanca and have pesky writers ownng the rights when you can do Transformers 4 and treat the writers like the help? See? But while Hollywood is trying to get rid of writers, innovations in digital cameras and CGI might well allow writers of the future to eliminate Hollywood. I mean, why include a bunch of know-nothing hacks in the creative decision-making process at all?
A prequel that split time between the fall of civilization and the years of living alone (perhaps with dwindling friends) could be really fun. Yeah, not technically a sequel but who cares.
“We don’t want it brilliant, we want it Monday.”
Love, The Studios
Interesting comments, but most miss the real issue is that Hollywood doesn’t like new ideas. Not that they ever have any….
In line with Heathermc
I didn’t see the original movie but will this one co-star H5N1?
@13 Hey, thats a great idea for a movie.
You could have a hot chick play lead. Make her a caretaker of an elaborate false-front mansion over some hive-like underground bioweapons lab. Maybe throw in a deadly AI to spice things up.
I believe the title was “I Am Legion”
Interestingly enough, I just watched I Am Legend. I had forgotten, and had I remembered, I would not have invested $3.99 in owning the DVD. Were I Will Smith, I wouldn’t put it any where near the top of my resume. More likely, on a list buried on another page. The problem is that all those vampire-like, night loving, people hating creatures are really mean and vicious. At the end, Will Smith is trying to reason with creatures willing to destroy themselves in order to destroy him, that he has a cure. They aren’t interested in a cure, they’re interested in ripping his face off and eating his still beating heart. He’s standing there, in tears, pleading with them, that he has a cure. He got what he had coming to him. What he needed to find was a more effective way to destroy the creatures, and make sure they were totally eliminated from the earth. Whatever claim they once had on being human was lost long ago.
I’m still waiting for the sequel to the original “Spartacus”, where they cut Kirk Douglas down and let him go crazy again.
Jeez folks, chill. Dr. Neville’s death will easily be skirted by having Pam wake up at Southfork and realize it was all a dream. Duh.
cant they call it a prequal? are they calling it a prequel?
i for one would like to see some backstory about how the world melted down, and how he and NYC handled the time during which every one either died or mutated.
the chick and her kid who end up in Bucolicville could say “yeah he left us this diary and a bunch of tapes and interviews and stuff” then build the sequel around neville trying to get people to take his vaccine and refusing because they were mutants.
special effects could be boffo too as we’d get to see the horrifying sequence from a normal person to full-on mutant.
thats plenty of meat around which to build a movie nowadays, n’est pas?
To judge by today’s usually dreadful, light-weight and/or Leftist propaganda driven, formulaic, low-IQ, no-talent, violence, CGI, and sex-filled movies–substituting these inferior things for the wit, talent, depth, and good scripts of former decades–all of that sex, drugs and rock and roll, further potentiated by endemic Leftism and lemming-like political correctness, and the scramble for money and power, have had their effects on Hollywood (and the “Entertainment Industry” in general)—our very own Sodom and Gomorrah—and, apparently, very few left there have any more intelligence, or creativity than a steaming pile of dog crap, and those who might are keeping a very low profile and, in any case, it looks like they can’t get funding or script approval.
No doubt, too, today’s synthetic, siliconed, supposedly glorious, hyper-intelligent, and massively talented “stars” would not want to act in their movies, even if the talented and apparently small minority in Hollywood were able to get funding and script approval.
So, what do we get?
The “geniuses” in charge in Hollywood troll through the catalog of past successes—comic books, even–trying to find something that they can remake, or reinvent, do a spin-off of, or a sequel or prequel to. Scraping the bottom of the barrel, over and over again and, in the process, ruining fond memories of the original hits, now forever contaminated by their crappy remakes, sequels, prequels and spin-offs—botched pieces of crap like the remake of “Swept Away” starring Madonna, the remake of “The Day The Earth Stood Still” starring Keanu Reeves, “Mission Impossible” remakes I to LVXI starring whack job midget Tom Cruise, and, last but not least, Rocky I—to Rocky XXLVI starring a slab of beef in a cold meat locker, come immediately to mind.
Hmmmm, is Hollywood becoming like Brussels. Desperately repackaging old concepts and selling them as new as their empire of mediocrities approaches free fall?
I note, too, that the movies, with the indispensable help of TV, have long pushed the propaganda lines dictated by the Left and its Grasmscian attack against the building blocks of Western bourgeois societies—marriage and the family, the church, schools, government, the law, public institutions. Thus, the Feminist view–Men are always brutes or helpless, ineffectual idiots, Women the sensible, put upon ones, the church and priests are hypocrites (and probably pedophiles to boot) , the police crooked, the government fascistic and corrupt, but those on the Left are working for oppressed and in favor of liberating freedom.
So, too, there are certain prescribed, obligatory villains, and those never to be portrayed as villains.
We have the saintly “magic negro” who can heal all ills vs. the racist, violent white red neck, the crazy, violent Christian vs. the discriminated against, peaceful Muslim or illegal alien who are just trying to fit in, etc.
I submit that viewers of both movies and TV are tired of these obvious Leftist propaganda themes and stick figures, and of having their intelligence insulted, and have increasingly just tuned movies and TV out and turned them off.
If it’s a prequel, they can call it I Am About To Be Legend.
We’ll know Hollywood is desperate when James Cameron does a sequel to Titanic.
Actually a sequel would be possible. There were two inquests, one on each side of the Atlantic. Problem is, the historic inquests contradict the film plot in so many areas that Cameron would have to rewrite history more than Mel Gibson did when he cranked out Braveheart.
“Is it really necessary to spoil I Am Legend with a reheated regurgitation?”
Uh, I Am Legend was spoiled with the *Smith’s* reheated regurgitation.
I don’t care which films they Re-make so long as they leave “Casablanca” alone.
I couldn’t sit through the 1st one, and certainly won’t suffer a second shot. “Hit movie” my ass, I Am Legend was borring beyond belief.
The original “Last Man on Earth” with Vincent Price was superior despite (due to) the lack of cheesey computer generated zombies.
All they need to do is go back to a book by Doug Kenney and Henry Beard called “The Book of Sequels”. It’s a gold mine of ideas for (your name here)II.
firefirefire,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084994/
Seriously, nobody noticed that the “preview” was a hoax? Every video sequence in it was taken straight from I am Legend, and the audio bits towards the end were lifted wholesale from other movies (I heard a Patrick Stewart line from X-men in the mix).