Francis Lawrence confirms talks for I AM LEGEND prequel

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

The weekend after I Am Legend opened to $77 million domestic for Warner Bros., we all knew a further continuation of this series was inevitable. The movie was Will Smith's highest opening of all time and was liked by critics and audiences a like, with his performance singled out for huge praise. Those combinations usually = sequel. Though, not quite in this case as bringing back Will Smith for the logical continuation of the story (a.k.a 28 Weeks Later) can't quite be done. So the only way to get Smith back is to sacrifice the forward momentum of the series and go the PREQUEL route.

Which was yesterday confirmed by director Francis Lawrence at the Con...

"Yes, yes, absolutely, we're actually trying to crack that. We're trying to figure out some ideas for it, but yes, it would be a prequel." "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, so if it's just back earlier, it'll be slightly different so the approach will be different. We're not positive of the time of the year, because if you go in winter, you can do some entirely different kinds of things."

Lawrence confirmed that he thinks Will Smith would sign up for the movie in a heartbeat (I tend to agree) and he will soon talk to author Richard Matheson to hear his thoughts on the project. Apparentaly Matheson was delighted with last year's movie and even sent them a letter declaring his love for the movie. Would a prequel of this tale really be all that interesting? At the end of the day, we all know the path that is taken by Robert Neville... we all know his end fate and that of humanity, I can't imagine how many surprises are left for us? Sure you could add a few more characters to the piece this time around but we all know they aren't gonna survive. The movie should unquestionably have continued from where the last movie left off if they were really desperate to do another movie... Smith or no Smith. source - shock till you drop