Director of I Am Legend regrets the ending of Will Smith’s film: “We were all nervous!” – Cinema News

The sequel to the 2007 film will feature the return of Smith, as well as the presence of Michael B. Jordan in a mysterious role.

I Am Legend is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most popular films of Will Smith’s career. Adapted from the novel by Richard Matheson, published in 1954, the science fiction film is still revered today for mixing suspense and drama in a charming way.

After the confirmation of a sequel, more than fifteen years after the release of the original feature, the director of the 2007 film, Francis Lawrence, revealed that he should have filmed the true ending of the literary work.

Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan will star in I Am Legend 2; understand how the original’s alternative ending fits into the sequel

“I prefer the original ending to the two we have,” he said in relation to the cut that hit theaters and the alternative ending released later. “But the truth is that now I would have constructed it to be able to do the ending of the novel, really just make that story.”

He adds: “But with the money being spent, we were all nervous about doing something so nihilistic. But looking back, I feel like everyone went to see The Last Man on Earth and liked it for that reason and still would have liked it [Eu Sou a Lenda] with the nihilistic ending.”

Why will the zombies in I Am Legend 2 be different in the sequel with Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan?

In the plot, a terrible incurable virus, created by man, decimated the population of New York. Robert Neville (Smith) is a brilliant scientist who, without knowing how, became immune to the virus. For 3 years he has been traveling around the city sending radio messages, hoping to find any survivors.

Robert is always accompanied by mutant victims of the virus, who wait for the right moment to attack him. At the same time, he carries out tests with his own blood, trying to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus. At the end of I Am Legend, Neville sacrifices himself to allow two other survivors to escape.

Taking into account the sequence confirmed last year, it should be remembered that an alternative ending was recorded and released. In it, the character understands that the creatures still have humanity, consciousness, and frees the infected woman he captured. Thus, he, Anna (Alice Braga) and Ethan (Charlie Tahan) head to a colony of survivors.

The next feature, which will feature Michael B. Jordan in addition to Smith, should consider the alternative outcome. “The film will pick up a few decades after the first one,” said Akiva Goldsman, screenwriter of the original film.

“We resume [a inspiração] to Matheson’s original book and the alternate ending as opposed to the ending released 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, an interesting thing that we will explore. There will be a little more fidelity to the original text.”

I Am Legend 2 is expected to hit theaters in mid-2025.