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Will Smith Reveals I Am Legend Prequel Story Details

by Alex Billington
December 6, 2008
Source: Collider

Ever since it was officially confirmed that Warner Brothers was developing an I Am Legend prequel, we've been anxious to find out what exactly it would be about, since there's not much of a story to tell besides what we've already seen. However, Will Smith has finally cleared the air this weekend, since it took a long time for Smith and director Francis Lawrence to actually figure out a good story to tell. Collider picked up the news, directly from Smith, who said that, "it's essentially the fall of the last city - the last stand of Manhattan." In it, a "small band" of people would be forced to go to first go to Washington D.C., then back to New York City after D.C. falls as well. And of course, "yes, the dog will be a puppy."

I'm personally very supportive of the idea of a prequel, because I loved I Am Legend and with the same creative people leading the team this time (Smith and Lawrence), I'm expecting to see something just as good. I agree with Collider in that this sounds like a great idea. "Imagine a big road movie with a few characters having to fight their way somewhere and then returning and having to protect the last city." It's kind of a twisted way of telling the story of Robert Neville - we've already seen how it all ends and how he dies, but now we get to see the story about him becoming the last man alive. And if that's what we're going to see, then I'm definitely excited. Hopefully it doesn't take too long to get into production. Thoughts?

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44 Comments

eh.... too much crappy CGI, a 'wtf' ending, and once again horribly bad usage of CGI makes for a bad experience watching I Am Legend. I am excited to see what they can do with it, but they might as well go back and redo the first one also.

Daniel on Dec 6, 2008

I've got a hint for ya...the butterfly tattoo seen on the captured creature at the end, will be seen again.

Bryanmakeup on Dec 6, 2008

this doesn't sound bad. it's obviously an extreme deviation from the novel, but hey...who doesn't like to see ravaged cities within apocalyptic stories?

Matt Suhu on Dec 6, 2008

Far as I'm concerned, Neville didn't die in the film. I consider the director's cut ending to be the ONLY ending. I'm into a prequel, but they better develop it well. They had the sense of isolation and dissonance to fuel I Am Legend, but without something that powerful, this could just end up another Land of the Dead.

IK on Dec 6, 2008

@ #2 it's probably Will Smith's high school sweetheart.

Daniel on Dec 6, 2008

immediately after the 1st one ended, i'be really wnated to find out how all of those ppl died and where the fuck all their bodies went, so yea im somehwta excited for this. the prequel is bound to have more action and a better story then that piece of crap that was i am legend

LeeMan on Dec 6, 2008

Are there any good movies that are prequels though? Besides the Star Wars movies. Just curious.

The_Phantom on Dec 6, 2008

He didn't die in the movie. Don't give a shit what the ending for the theatrical release was, the Directors Cut ending is the only true ending. The other ending is so bad and offensive that it made the whole movie crap.

Darunia on Dec 6, 2008

I personally liked Omega man a lot, but this is so so. Agree with #1, CGI was crap

L on Dec 6, 2008

whats with all the prequels these days? once we already know how things ended, who cares what happened before??? just another scam by the untalented to milk it for more $$$...how lame....

cornholio_by_the_sea on Dec 6, 2008

#7...Scorpion King was a GREAT Prequel to a Sequel of a Remake.

Mike McRorey on Dec 6, 2008

I remember reading about the story where the reason that Will Smith's character was called 'Legend' that he was a scary story the vampires told their children before they went to sleep in the daytime, because he was like some kind of boogeyman that killed them as they slept. Making the creatures like some hungry animal was pretty boring, almost like weird cgi zom-things. It's ridiculous that crap ending was shown in the cinemas instead of the directors cut ending too. But what do I know, I just watch the things!

Crapola on Dec 6, 2008

i think they should do a sequel not a prequel. they do this by opening the movie with the ending of I am Legend when will smith was behind the bullet proof glass and they should start it there then use the alternate ending instead to make it more interesting. Also they should go to the compound. Also they should make the creatures evolve and can be out in daylight now so it would have more of a scary feel and have the army in a epic battle with the creature and have some of the army men infected just as a twist.

Darren on Dec 6, 2008

this movie sucked. the ending robbed the original of all it's impact. he was a legend because he was the monster.

Fuelbot on Dec 6, 2008

How was he the monster?

Random Dude 1 on Jan 7, 2011

And small band of people fighting zombie like creatures, because we haven't seen that before. This is gonna be like "28 Days Later" meets "Resident Evil", just less interesting and crappier. Well, at least they'll have a puppy. Hope this once I actually care about the dog.

Everwen45 on Dec 6, 2008

Sounds lame and very reused. Maybe they should remake I am Legend to be reminiscent of the actual book?

Again on Dec 6, 2008

Are all of you people retarded? I am Legend was a fantastick movie and the prequal will be fucking sweet!

Phil on Dec 6, 2008

I AM LEGEND was absolute SHIT!!!! nothing like the book!!!!

spanx on Dec 6, 2008

the Theatrical and Director's cut ending both sucked and ruined the whole movie. without the true ending the title doesn't even make sense. it's still a guilty pleasure of mine because will smith was great in it but there was a lot wrong with this movie but a good ending would've redeemed it in my eyes

Silver on Dec 6, 2008

i wasn't crazy about "i am legend". it had more than a few issues. but, the whole time i watched it i kept thinking: it sure would have made a better movie to follow the story being shown in the flashbacks. so, yea, i'm happy they're doing a prequel and hoping it turns out better than the first movie.

dan on Dec 7, 2008

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who is underwhelmed with this news.

Syphous on Dec 7, 2008

I am still waiting for someone with the balls to make a faithful adaptation of the book. All 3 movies to date sucked.

mike on Dec 7, 2008

I don't see any reason for a prequel. Sometimes the back-story is best left untold and only hinted at. We get a good idea of how things went down in I Am Legend, and that's all we need. Revealing everything diminishes what made this movie special. This seems contrived just to make $, rather than telling a story that needs to be told. Count me out.

Scott on Dec 7, 2008

They fucked I am Legend up so badly with the ending that i'm having a hard time getting excited for this one. They should have used the other ending and make a sequel, i would definitely be in for that.

vic on Dec 7, 2008

I am actually excited for this, i wouldn't mind seeing a prequel. Besides, the idea does sound pretty cool. I feel that I am Legend lacked action and the cgi wasn't the best, but i have seen worse. I'll wait to hear more details but in the meantime, i am looking forward to this.

Big r on Dec 7, 2008

kinda reminds me of the game Left 4 Dead! Seriously, run to safe house one to safe house 2, but instead of a safe house, they go to cities

alex on Dec 7, 2008

yeah wow 26 not at all, unless will smith turns from a scientist to an office manager. NO NOT LOUIS NOOOOOO!!!!

cody on Dec 7, 2008

Alex i'm a fan of what you do here. I frequent the site often and this is what I have to say about I am Legend (the Will Smith and Francis Lawrence version). What happened to the story? I've said it before in other IAL posts that i've dared share my opinion on but it lacked the very essence of the Neville I read in the book. I have learned to separate the film from the book in many occasion because I understand that in many cases you can't turn a book truthfully into a movie. With that said though I thought that Smith lacked the essence of who Neville was in the book. He had gotten used to his place in life since he was the last of his kind. Who else could listen to classical music while the vampires begged him to come on out like a stroll down the Price is Right? I must say though I did like his break down in the movie store, I thought it was minorly entertaining. But Smith was not 'Robert Neville' he was Will Smith Neville. I do like Francis Lawrence and Akiva Goldsman. I think they have a lot of screen potential. I am curious what this movie will be but I have very little hope to see a good lead up to the real I am Legend.

Darren on Dec 7, 2008

I don't really see the need to have a prequel to a movie if you already know where it'll end up (that is, Neville being the only survivor - or is he?) But then again you could kind of say the same thing about Watchmen: people know what's gonna happen but they sure as damn hell gonna be watching it, save for the purists

Jaf on Dec 7, 2008

I agree with Darren. You can't compare the book the movie because all you will do is get yourself upset. The book is amazing! I think the movie should have shown Roberto Neville getting drunk every night, cursing at the vampires, going crazy and get more into the character's head just like the book did. There's no point in making a prequel to the movie other than to make more money.

ralphiejay on Dec 7, 2008

I'm just so happy that people share my opinion of the book! The only reason I loved the Will Smith film was the 1st trailer. I watched the trailer, loved what I seen, IMDB'ed it as always and found it was based on a book. Read the book and loved it! If this film had not come out, I may never have read it. The feeling of isolation that Neville experiences feels so real and the flash-backs in the book are excellent, as is the significance of the dog, and the twist, what a twist! It was all there for them to make into a film as was, no artistic license, no "how do we adapt this for the big screen moments", it was just all there, so why they didn’t make the book into the movie it deserved to become, I have no idea! I was so disappointed when the film came out, and really struggled to understand how they got it so wrong. I can usually separate the book from the film - blade runner/do androids dream is one such adaptation that is so different from the book, but stands up on its own as an amazing piece of cinematography. It's clear to see after reading the book how difficult it would be to stay faithful to the book, but it used the book as the starting point and was successful. This on the other hand just never pulled it off. Maybe the prequel will go some way to addressing these downfalls, but I won’t hold my breath!

IainW on Dec 7, 2008

Soundz good.....

NadaNuff on Dec 7, 2008

What the hell, people? Just because it wasn't like the source material doesn't make it crap. Sure, the CGI was crap and the theatrical ending were crap, but the story was a good idea, and almost everything else about the movie was good. It's always whine, whine, whine, blah, blah, blah with you people. Calling the movie terrible as a whole is like cutting off your whole head because you have a toothache. And will people please stop using plz and ppl?! Are you retarded or lazy?

JL on Dec 7, 2008

I'm not talking about anyone in this thread, that's just something that bothers me. Along with wtf, lol, lmao, and all that other bullshit.

JL on Dec 7, 2008

Agree with #1 - remake I Am Legend. Reboot it. Get rid of Will Smith (he can fuck off and make his sequel to that other piece of shit Hancock instead).

avoidz on Dec 7, 2008

I read a screenplay fo I Am Legend about 10 yrs ago( http://www.horrorlair.com/scripts/legend.txt , I think this is the one, give it a read....), supposedly Arnold Schwarzenegger was due to take the lead but the funding went out of it, who knows.... It was so much better than the film that eventually got released (but even then, I loved what we got...) I always saw John C. McGinley as Neville, after reading this and after watching Intensity ( a Dean Kontz adaptation), but will welcome a prequel... hope its good, rather than a cash in....

Ryan on Dec 7, 2008

must improve cgi must improve cgi if not use real people its been done before would like to see a better story alltogether

anthony on Dec 7, 2008

I AM LEGEND movie sucked. Story was nothing like the book should have named it something else. If it was called anything but I am Legend i might have liked it. But seeing how they took the title and nothing from the book i dont look forward to this new movie.

Heckle on Dec 7, 2008

Terrible movie. Yet for some reason I'm semi-interested in the prequel.

Daniel on Dec 8, 2008

Loved the first movie,as long as they will show how he turned out and became the last man alive then i think it will be interesting idea.

Fisherr on Jan 16, 2009

I LOVED. i am legend. and yes, i read the bloody book. i think that a prequel would be great 🙂 how about he figures out hes immune when he saves the puppy from getting attacked, bc he gets bitten and he doesnt change... i thought the CGIs were good. not like the chronicles of narnia or anything. but they were good 😀 will smith is a great actor, and him dying didnt rob anything from anywhere.

yourmom on Mar 26, 2009

i hated this movie ..anyone read the book wtf!! its diffrent..kinda pissed me off because it was so diffrent

bryce hesser on Dec 22, 2009

I love I am legend because it a good movie and Will Smith, he can make a good movie and that was a good on and sad when he left his child and his wife and the sad part is when the dog got bit.

tia on Apr 6, 2010

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