12 Sci-Fi Movies Plagued By Reshoots

All in all, I Am Legend is actually a very good film and certainly the best on this list. Its only major flaw is the ending which, surprise surprise, was a reshoot.

The story of Robert Neville, possibly the last man on Earth, fighting off vampire-like zombies, does largely differ from the novella it's based off, but the ending in the original cut stuck firmly to the source material.

During the climatic fight, Neville comes to the realisation that the creatures he's been experimenting on, do have some humanity left in them and their 'attack' was in aid of rescuing one of their own. The creatures leave in peace and Neville drives off into the sunset with his new companions.

It's a fantastic ending to a thrilling film. Unfortunately it's not the one that made it to cinemas. Test audiences hated it and director Francis Lawrence was forced to reshoot a 'happier' ending where Neville sacrifices himself to save humanity.

This ending is now considered to be the weaker one and a large stain on an otherwise great movie, with an excellent Will Smith performance. And Lawrence wholeheartedly agrees:

In terms of story math we're doing everything you're not supposed to do. The hero doesn't find the cure. They drive off into the unknown and the creatures you've been saying are the bad ones actually have humanity - the hero's the bad one. And so you've basically turned everything on its head. I agree it's the better ending. But we tested it twice and it got wildly rejected, which is why we came out with the other one."