Ever since the release of 2007’s Will Smith blockbuster I Am Legend, Warner Bros. Pictures has been attempting to franchise the property with a follow-up film. Now, nearly a decade later, we may finally get that movie.
Deadline reports that the studio is retrofitting a spec script titled A Garden at the End of the World for a reboot of the series. The script was penned by Gary Graham, who was working at an Apple store when he wrote it. He posted his script to the Black List website, where it got noticed by Hollywood bigwigs and eventually ended up with Warner Brothers. The script is described as a “sci-fi version of John Wayne’s The Searchers“.
When the studio noticed similar themes in Graham’s spec script to the I Am Legend mythology, he was asked to rewrite his script to fit the existing property. In other words, studio execs asked a screenwriter to sacrifice his creativity for the sake of doing a movie that will make more money. In Hollywood, they call that “normal”.
It’s still unclear how this new film will factor into the new franchise, but I Am Legend star, Will Smith will reputedly not return for the reboot due to his reluctance to participate in sequels.
No word on if anyone is being eyed to replace Smith. It’s also unclear if the next star will play Smith’s character Robert Neville, or if the film will feature a different character. I Am Legend producers Akiva Goldsman, James Lassiter, and Joby Harold are back on-board to produce the new flick, along with Roy Lee and Brooklyn Weaver (who discovered Graham’s spec script).
We want to know what you think. Are you excited for the new reboot, or do you think Warner Brothers is sucking the life out of this property? (Pun definitely intended.)
