There’ve been several unsuccessful attempts to revisit the world introduced by Will Smith’s I AM LEGEND back in 2007. They’ve been through prequel ideas and sequel ideas, but thus far nothing has stuck.
Indomitable, The Powers That Be have evidently found a way to reboot the whole shebang instead. They’ll be retrofitting a pre-existing property and jamming it into the I AM LEGEND scenario; a similar approach was taken with 1995’s DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (that franchise also cannibalized 58 MINUTES, an unrelated book, for the second film in the series).
The script which got the ball rolling in this case is by Gary Graham (not the guy from ALIEN NATION and STAR TREK).
Warner Bros acquired what was described as a sci-fi version of John Wayne’s The Searchers. When Graham was brought in to rewrite his script, the studio by then had talked to the I Am Legend producers and noted enough similarities to the themes and mythology of that film that they asked the scribe to consider a redraft to fit that property.
…says THIS piece at Deadline.
No word on any other details at this point, except that…
Original I Am Legend producers Akiva Goldsman of Weed Road, Overbrook’s James Lassiter and Safehouse Pictures’ Joby Harold are on board to produce, along with Vertigo’s Roy Lee, and Weaver.
So, what I’m conjecturing here is a mutant-zombiefied version of THE SEARCHERS - which might actually be pretty cool if handled properly?
For those who’ve never seen it, I AM LEGEND had an original ending which I think resonated far more powerfully, and did the story far greater service in terms of character and thematics, than the conclusion which made it to theaters. Here’s a taste of it…
————
Glen Oliver
“Merrick”
