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Francis Lawrence reveals what he wants in an I Am Legend prequel
Francis Lawrence, who directed 2007's I Am Legend, told SCI FI Wire that he, star Will Smith and writer/producer Akiva Goldsman are awaiting a script, by D.B. Weiss, for the proposed prequel film, which will again explore the idea of what it means to be the last man on Earth.
"That was the real reason I wanted to do the movie in the first place, really, was the idea of 'What does that world look like, what does it do to you when you're by yourself?'" Lawrence said in an exclusive interview Thursday night in Universal City, Calif., where he was promoting his upcoming limited NBC series Kings. "What does it do without people, without companionship and sound and the loss of your family, without anybody to talk to? I think that's really what people connected to, and so the tough thing is, how do we do that again and in a different way?"
The first film showcased Smith's performance as Robert Neville, the last human survivor of a virulent plague that has transformed the rest of humanity into ravening vampire-like creatures. The prequel would step back to a time before the events of the first movie, which was based on Richard Matheson's classic SF novel. The movie is reportedly envisioned as a prequel because Smith's character perishes in the first movie.
"I have my beliefs on what was interesting about the first story and what was not so interesting about the first story, and I think that to go back, there has to be a truly viable reason to go back into that world that I think interested everybody, so that's the real struggle," Lawrence said. "The struggle is to find a story that brings us back in a way that's hopefully just as interesting as the first time around."
Lawrence added: "Yeah, if we figure out the story, I'm absolutely involved in the prequel. ... We've had conversations. The three of us, Will and Akiva and I, have sat down and talked, and there's a writer that's working on it right now. So we came up with the bones of a story, and now we're waiting to see a script."
Lawrence said there's no time frame for development of the project. "It's really just honestly about trying to come up with something really good," he said. "I think that's the bottom line for all of us: ... It's not a rush. It's 'Let's just try and make it good and make it right and do what we want to do.'"
By Uber Critic at 5:39 AM ON 01/16/09
This guy won't get my money again. Why Will Smith is seemingly obsessed with seeing his family cast as victims in his movies, I don't know, but this film was depressing??? What happened to making films that simply entertain people and teach us something. What we learned from I Am Legend, and the human condition, is nothing????
By Facepalm at 8:26 AM ON 01/16/09
Why can't they just take the book and read it before writing a script. Why does it have to be the ongoing desecration of one of the finest novels ever written. All that survived the conversion from book to this Will Smith movie was the name of the main character, everything else was tossed out of the window.
By Heather Johnson at 8:55 AM ON 01/16/09
I have to admit that I've never read the book, so I can't comment on whether it was a good adaptation or not. What I CAN say is that the only part of this movie that I DID like was the exploration of how a person would live if he were completely alone. That part was fascinating to me. The video store "customers", talking to the dog, those were the best parts of the film for me ... so I'm intrigued by this new concept.
By Sertan at 9:06 AM ON 01/16/09
I agree with Facepalm.
While some of the changes didn't bother me (NY instead of LA, for example), there was one that was just criminal:
THE ENDING. THE ENDING, THE ENDING, THE ENDING. I won't spoil it here, but the book is called I Am Legend for an infinitely cooler reason than heroic sacrifice. Why would you take away the one uniquely amazing plot twist that defines the entire novel? WHY? It's bafflingly stupid. It's the heart of the novel, its integrity.
By Walt at 9:10 AM ON 01/16/09
But how will the ever come up with an original concept?
By ds9writer at 9:49 AM ON 01/16/09
I actually like the movie better than the novella. The original story was just a vampire story complete with garlic and wooden stakes. The movie was more interesting to me...
By blue at 10:33 AM ON 01/16/09
I really preferred Omega Man
By greg at 10:36 AM ON 01/16/09
For what it's worth, Matheson liked the movie. And it put the novel on the bestseller list for the first time in fifty years.
By varrior at 11:57 AM ON 01/16/09
Sertan: one of the endings of the film that was made retained the ending of the book. However, being the douches that they are, the executives in charge of the film thought it would piss off the audience... when in reality the aired ending just pissed us off more.
By jpl1976 at 1:11 PM ON 01/16/09
Why cant Will Smith find something else to do other than making Sci Fi movies? As far as a prequel to I Am Legend goes, why? What more do they want to milk from a movie that was terrible in the first place?
By blastorama at 2:15 PM ON 01/16/09
The Matheson novella was FAR superior to this movie. The movie was hardly an adaptation at all. It simply used the same name, character name and the idea of Robert Neville being the last man on earth. The novella took place in Los Angeles and Neville was not a doctor, simply a very lonely man trying to survive and keep his sanity. The vampires all knew where he lived and constantly tried coaxing him out of his fortress of a home using his loneliness as fuel. In the book, it's more a tale of a man who unknowingly becomes "the boogie man" to a new form of life rapidly becoming the dominant life form on earth...surprisingly, it's not the evil vampires. They are more the transitional life forms leading to the new society, who also fears them, but fears Neville even more, because while they lie asleep during the day, Neville (their boogie man) is on the hunt and looking to kill. To them, he's the one of legend...the one they fear...the one they tell scary stories about (hence the books title). Anyone who hasn't read it should think seriously about it. Many movies since the 60's were inspired by Matheson's tale.
By a p garcia at 2:32 PM ON 01/16/09
It would be an ausome movie if the scrip was good and Chuck Heston was involved along with Will Smith, but since Chuck Heston is dead-forget it.
By Facepalm at 2:49 PM ON 01/16/09
It's not so much that he is surrounded by vampires, they could be something else it would not matter. Any movie adaptation could replace them by more modern mutants without compromising the story too much. It's about Neville being different from the rest, his extreme isolation and reluctance to adapt in a changing society. That's what the Will Smith movie utterly fails to communicate. Will Smith is the heroic scientist, the Neville in the novel might just as well a lunatic who tries to rationalize the irrational with science. He could be wrong about his research.
It's not about the critters, it's how Neville deals with being a remnant outsider. They do talk to him in the book, another aspect which was totally dropped and turned into lame creatures for action sequences.
By rafe at 3:08 PM ON 01/16/09
Uber Critic,
Are you serious? There are thousands of movies available a year. If you don't like the plot of a movie, don't see it.
Why should filmmakers be limited to happy films? What would happen to horror films, historical films, etc.?
I
By shatnerfan at 3:52 PM ON 01/16/09
blastorama, I agree that the book is far superior to any of the three film versions. One thing to note: in the book Robert Neville is not exactly a regular person. He is a scientist (a virologist) trying to figure out what happened. This is at least consistent with the Smith and Heston film versions.
By Remnant at 4:51 PM ON 01/16/09
Will Smith's career is on a downward spiral. The last 5 or 6 or so of his movies SUCKED beyond the telling. This movie was horrible from start to finish. He's a mediocre performer with very little skill in acting and music. He just got lucky with one film "Independenc Day". He and his family are weird, something is just not right with those people.
By xavier34 at 5:01 PM ON 01/16/09
Don't get me started about that wretched movie "Hancock". It had potential but the love story crap, ruined it. It would been funnier if it was about a screw-up super hero that no one likes. That movie sucked to the 10th degree. I want my 2 hours back you oxygen thief!!!!
By Uber Critic at 7:29 PM ON 01/16/09
Rafe, I have tried to defend Will Smith for years, but I Am Legend and 7 Pounds were the last straws. I am no longer a fan.
By REM1701 at 3:57 AM ON 01/19/09
Note to all CRITICS here: Why are U hating? Stop drinking the Hator-ade. Most of U are just jealous :-(
By Kite-Eating Tree at 9:40 PM ON 01/19/09
Actually, his acting was good. But I had read the book saw the films when I was a kid so I knew what to expect. They actually made it very entertaining for basically a one person show for the first 45 minutes. The flashbacks came each time just before it got bland.
I wish em luck on the prequel.
By PolkMoney at 7:50 PM ON 08/27/09
I dont really care whether or not they ruin a good book. As long as the movie is good, I'll watch it.
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PolkMoney:
I dont really care whether or not they ruin a good book. As long as the movie is good, I'll watch it....More »