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I Am Legend Director Francis Lawrence Talks Prequel

by Kevin Powers
July 28, 2008
Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com

For everyone who watched 2007's I Am Legend and thought, "Ah, suck... I want more back story on the vampire-zombie critters and how NYC came to be so desolate," today I bring you a spot of good news from our friends at Shock Till You Drop. Director Francis Lawrence revealed at Comic-Con this past weekend that he is, in fact, thinking seriously on a prequel to the Will Smith vehicle that collected nearly $580 million worldwide. The inexperienced movie director - Lawrence scored pretty big with I Am Legend, having only Constantine and a slew of pop-music videos under this belt -- said of the prospect, "Yes, yes, absolutely, we're actually trying to crack that. We're trying to figure out some ideas for it."

In my mind, this is some pretty cool news. I definitely count Legend among the better movies in my collection, due equally to the storyline and Smith's performance. The abandoned shots of New York City and the genre-bending monsters is simply some kickass subject matter. If Lawrence can take us back a bit and color in the events and virus that led up the 2007 film, that will be fantastic. He feels pretty confident that Smith will return as Dr. Robert Neville, as well, which pretty much completes the financial equation. Smith seems assured box office gold, evidenced recently by the $380+ million worldwide earned on Hancock already, despite a lacking 38% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It seems Lawrence and crew might even have a head start on particular aspects of the prequel, given their build-up to the first movie. "In the prequel, it's slightly different because it's earlier. We were three years later so we did a lot of research into the way nature would have sort of overtaken the city, with the cracks in the streets and the weeds." And even though the director brushes off the concern, I'd still be crazy worried about shutting down parts of one of the busiest cities in the world; that feat, after all, is big part of what makes Legend so compelling. "The first time you got out there and shut down 6th Avenue, it's like, 'How are we going to do this day after day after day?' but by the end, it's just like you know how to do it. You got the P.A.'s who know how to shut it down, how to let the traffic through in between set-ups and you just sort of get the routine down, so that's not the issue."

We'll definitely keep an eye on this and bring you the latest. However, as with my circle of friends, I've encountered really mixed opinions on I Am Legend. Are you interested in a prequel?

Find more posts: Hype, Movie News

27 Comments

Yawn!!!

Pickle on Jul 28, 2008

2 words: Hell and Yeah

Thomas on Jul 28, 2008

I don't know for sure, but if you guys are going to do it. For god sake bring another writer along and A lote more action. Beceause "I Am Legend" was pretty boring, there was barely no action and you shouldn't show the monsters(vampires)till the end of movie. Beceause we all know that the people's number one fear is the UNKNOWN. Not knowing what these monsters(vampires)are capable off, and not even know what they look like makes it so much more scary. Will Smith was really good though, the cinematography was really good to and the Alternate ending on the dvd made the movie A thousand times better. Why did you people let him die in the end. The alternate ending gave the movie A meaning, what meaning does the movie have now? The movie is about A man who is all alone in New York and he is walking around for an antidote. Finally he has the antidote and he sacrifised himself. The movie is over and you ask yourself immidiatly: So what was story, the meaning or the logic of this story? Don't go and make "I Am Legend" the prequel. Make A new movie, an action movie. Not A movie about another guy who has the run away with his family from the monsters. Why don't you make an action movie about A couple of soldiers who have to fight there way out of New York. Something like this: They end up in the sewers, meet another team that is almost in shock, they have to help them. But then they get attacked etc... etc... etc... Just make it more action packed, if you want me to write the story, just E-mail me: Power_tool769@hotmail.com I'll write you A huge blockbuster.

real good looking guy on Jul 28, 2008

OMG please no. You've already ruined the book once by making this movie and now its like pissing on the ashes. Damn. For those of you who liked the movie go read the book. It's a million times better.

Heckle on Jul 28, 2008

well duh the book is ALWAYS better than the movie! i think this is a fantastic idea! after watching the movie the i was left wondering.....what happened and why this and why that and they should have built the story up more than just as flashbacks! a prequel would so be the right thing to do in this case.

thejugfather on Jul 28, 2008

I want to see Emma Thompson in it. She was on the TV talking about the disease. If she and Smith headlined, I'd be interested. They could even bring another big actor as her boss and give him an integral part.

alex on Jul 28, 2008

"realgoodlookingguy" that's the plot of 28 Days later, only you made it more basic/generic. I hope you're not a writer.. LOL

D on Jul 28, 2008

No and NO....Really thought, with the ending as we all saw in the Cinema was a huge let down and a disapointment. The "Scooby Do" monsters were lame as well.....Thanks to First SHowing .net ...we all saw the ending that should have been used. There were too many holes and flow issues fro me. No thank you.

Tim "Cloverfield" on Jul 28, 2008

hell yeah!

Loren on Jul 28, 2008

noo!! I just had to say how i didnt like this film, and now talks about a prequel >_< !!! Why cant we just get a new re-boot for this novel!!

Nikhil Hariharan on Jul 28, 2008

Why a prequel? The "quel" wasn't even that good.

Dave Lister, JMC on Jul 28, 2008

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XXX on Jul 28, 2008

honestly id rather have a sequel if anything, i think they did a pretty good job of setting up how it got that way, things went to shit and everyone died or mutated and nature takes over

harrison on Jul 28, 2008

no leave it as it is.

Darrin on Jul 28, 2008

First off Warner Bros. botched the future of the franchise when they decided to go with the version they released in theaters instead of using the superior cut later released on the special edition DVD. That dvd version would have kept the door open for the studio to create a trilogy. Instead with greed being there sole motivating factor, they want to go the prequel route. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. I say cast an actress like Jennifer Garner for a followup and bill it as the last female on earth. Bottom line-I WANT a sequel. NOT a prequel!

entertainmenttodayandbeyond.com on Jul 28, 2008

God I fucking hate it when retards invade the internet. You dipshits actually thought the movie was supposed to be all about action and explosions? I need a fuckin stress ball...

Ali on Jul 28, 2008

99% of direct adaptations of books don't make good movies. Alt ending was best. /end

Buttons on Jul 28, 2008

Seems pretty split here between yes and no. I am a bit conflicted. Need more info and see the cast, mainly if Smith would be back.

Ryan on Jul 28, 2008

I think that would be awesome. I loved the movie. Will is great and Francis is great having only 2 movies under his belt. And I don't know if the movie was meant to be labeled an action film. But it was very intriguing.

Fisherman on Jul 28, 2008

Im down i loved I am Legend and im really looking forward to see more on this project.

Curtis on Jul 28, 2008

Yeah. I am Legend wasn't meant to be an action film. Its not. And the book is a better story overall. However, since the film basicly took the title and main character's name (and slapped a title on it), and then made up their own story, I thought they did a damn good job with just using the book as more of an inspirational material than a source material. IF they can write a good story, then a prequel could be quite good. However, it'd be very easy to fall into a boring, cliche driven prequel story, that even Will Smith couldn't save. Would the prequel be half Will Smith running around from the monsters and first adapting to the monster infested NYC? Because effectively, in that route, the first half of the story is written for them in the flashbacks they used. Not sure if I'd like to basicly rewatch those flashbacks, but in present time... hmmm... I'm intriqued by this idea.

dave13 on Jul 29, 2008

sure it wasn't meant to be an action film, but there was barely no excitement. The only scary moment was the moment in the parking garage. There should have been more, A lot more.

real good looking guy on Jul 29, 2008

I hate people that compare books to film...they're two completely different works of art.

Peloquin on Jul 29, 2008

I don't truly expect a movie to be the same as the book, but there are certain points made in books, especially this one, that I really wish had translated better onto the screen. Like his gradual understanding that the monsters are inteligent and did not in fact become brainless monsters. However the alternate ending better served that point. But is it so hard to understand when you read something that you thought was quite good and original, and you hear theres a movie out based on it, and then the movie doesn't touch on some of the parts that made the story so incredable to you, that that is a bit disapointing? They are different works of art, yes, but sometimes I think producers and directors and screenwriters are afraid that if they don't dumb the movie down from the book, audiences won't get it or appreciate it. Not always, but oftentimes.

dave13 on Jul 29, 2008

#22 Do you even know what you're saying? 'Sure, it's not an action movie. It just needs more action and explosions and excitement.' That MAKES it an action movie, which it is NOT. If you want an action flick, just go watch one. Also, throwing out a Hotmail address and proposing to write a Hollywood blockbuster is pretty pompous, for the record. As for my take it: leave it alone. It wasn't as strong a film as it could have been, but any further exploration will cheapen Smith's performance and the overall experience, which I thought was quite successful.

Ian Kazimer on Jul 29, 2008

Cool, is Lawrence going to undermine Smith's great acting by replacing all the supporting actors with unnecessary CGI again? Seriously tho, has there ever been a good prequel... ever? Why are filmmakers so obsessed with them? All the Star Wars and Hannibal prequels ever did was undermine the integrity of the characters. And before anyone starts, Batman Begins was a reboot, not a prequel. What's the point of telling a story when we already know the ending?

Sinbad on Jul 31, 2008

I liked the movie. I see exciting thinds in the back. Try to see the story from another point of view: The world is infected with a bad virus. It is in trouble. In darkness. There is just one man who can save it. The man who is not infected. He founds the cure, the pure blood, and he must sacrefice himself. Don`t you recognize the story? I didn`t read the novel from wich the film came from, but the film reminds me to Bible. Remind me how Jesus died on the cross, how He sacrefied Himself and gave His blood as a cure for the mankind. The woman(Anna) is talking about plan of God... the butterfly is a really good solution as a sign. And the colony of uninfected or saved could be the heaven. I don`t know that the director had thought like or not, but I saw this and I liked it. Finally, a question: The prequel means that they want to make another movie, wich will tell actions happened before this?

A christian on Sep 2, 2008

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