As the star of many high-profile genre films, Will Smith has a number of box office hits to his name. One of his highest-grossing efforts came in 2007, when he headlined an adaptation of I Am Legend. Marketed around Smith’s compelling performance as the last man on Earth, the film earned generally positive reviews and brought in $585.4 million at the worldwide box office. Even though I Am Legend works very well as a standalone story (regardless of which ending one watches), a follow-up has been in development for quite some time. Nearly 20 years after the original premiered, I Am Legend 2 has finally taken a big step forward.
In an interview with Collider, filmmaker Steven Caple Jr. revealed that he’s now attached to direct I Am Legend 2. Other details, such as a production timeline and a potential release date, are still unknown for the time being.
When Will I Am Legend 2 Release?
Based on what we know about I Am Legend 2, it seems to still be in the early stages of development. Though the film has been bandied about for years, it’s only now found a director in Caple, who will be reuniting with his Creed II star Michael B. Jordan. In his interview with Collider, Caple also mentioned that he is busy developing various projects for Paramount (I Am Legend 2 is set up at Warner Bros.), so it remains to be seen what takes priority moving forward. Depending on how quickly things come to fruition, one of those Paramount projects could push I Am Legend 2 to the back burner.
Prior to Caple coming on board, Smith teased some story ideas for I Am Legend 2. Most notably, he revealed that Jordan’s character is the head of a survivor settlement (debunking the popular fan theory that Jordan would play Robert Neville’s son). It’s unknown how far along the script is, but now that Caple is attached, it’s possible that that narrative will be revised somewhat, giving the director an opportunity to incorporate some of his own concepts. While the original film was based on Robert Matheson’s iconic novel, no such pre-existing source material exists for I Am Legend 2, so the creative team needs to take their time to iron out the screenplay and make the story as strong as possible.
Though Caple is keeping himself busy, it wouldn’t be surprising to see WB put I Am Legend 2 on the fast track. Jordan is coming off of his Best Actor win for his performance in the blockbuster hit Sinners, further cementing himself as one of his generation’s brightest stars. WB (the same studio behind Sinners) would love to capitalize on that by quickly building an I Am Legend sequel around two Oscar winners. Striking when the iron is hot is a popular trick in the film industry, and though it’s been 19 years since the first film, Jordan’s profile has arguably never been higher than it is now.
Even if the pieces come together quickly for I Am Legend 2, it’ll probably be a year or two at least before the film releases. WB’s presentation at CinemaCon this year came and went without the sequel being addressed. That would indicate it isn’t right around the corner, though things could certainly change depending on the status of the script. Fans might be in for a bit of a wait, but it’s still encouraging to see I Am Legend 2 take some meaningful steps forward. The film has been in the works for so long that some might have feared that it’d been scrapped. That does not appear to be the case.
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