Michael B. Jordan is preparing to star alongside Will Smith in I Am Legend 2. While speaking with People Magazine, Jordan shared an update about the highly anticipated sequel.
“We’re still working on the script and getting that up to par,” Jordan said. “It doesn’t have a release date or anything like that. I’m not sure exactly where we’re going to be filming that one, but I’m really excited to get in front of the camera with him. Being somebody that I’ve looked up to for a really long time, to be able to work with Will is something I’m really looking forward to. I’m really excited.”
I Am Legend 2 was announced in 2022, with Smith and Jordan attached to star. Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman, the screenwriter who co-wrote I Am Legend, was on board to pen the sequel.
Based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel, I Am Legend stars Smith as Robert Neville, a virologist living as the last human in New York City after a virus wiped out the entire population. Neville searches for a cure that could save humanity. Released in 2007, I Am Legend grossed over $585 million against a rumored budget of $150 million.
In the theatrical ending of I Am Legend, Neville dies when he sacrifices himself to kill the Darkseekers in his apartment, allowing Anna (Alice Braga) and Ethan (Charlie Tahan) to escape the city with the cure. In the alternate ending released on DVD, Neville survives and leaves the city with Anna and Ethan. Smith said the sequel will follow the alternate ending.
Goldsman also explained why the sequel will use the alternate ending as canon.
“We trace back to the original Matheson book, and the alternate ending as opposed to the released ending in the original film,” Goldsman said. “What Matheson was talking about was that man’s time on the planet as the dominant species had come to an end. That’s a really interesting thing we’re going to get to explore. There will be a little more fidelity to the original text.”