CON: I Am Legend

Panelists:
Comic book writers/artists Orson Scott Card, Richard
Christian Matheson, Mark Protosevich, Steve Niles, Bill Sienkiewicz,
David Levy and Jason Chan

I was looking forward to
this panel for one reason and one reason only: I love Richard Matheson’s book
I AM LEGEND. A great piece of work that has yet to be adapted properly (in my
pointless opinion, of course) for the
big screen. Sure, the two past attempts OMEGA MAN and THE LAST MAN ON EARTH had
their moments, but they never got close to the magic that is Matheson’s novel.
So I went in there wanting to be convinced that the new adaptation, directed by
Francis Lawrence and starring Will “I ruin sci-fi films via out of place
humor” Smith would be the money.

Oddly enough
though, this
panel focused mostly on the companion prequel comic book and upcoming online
incarnations. Granted, the comic’s
story and striking artwork were impressive (see examples below), but I really wanted to hear more about
the film. Kind of odd that WB didn’t go “buck-wild” in terms of pushing this one
at the Con. Oh well… what can you do.

So here’s what I saw and learned! We
were shown a 2D reel communicating some of the comic’s pages (a village in South Africa

being contained as to to the vamp infection by dudes in gas masks with big
guns) with sound effects and a moving score in tow.I really enjoyed the
clip and word has it that it will find its way online shortly (keep checking
into the film’s OFFICIAL SITE for
more on that). The panelists then threw
some nuggets of info our way and here are some of the ones I caught. Look for
film in theaters on December 17.

–
The new film will not
have any nods/winks to the two previous cinematic incarnations: OMEGA MAN and
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH.
Screenwriter Protosevich (THE CELL) said that this film would have “real
intensity and seriousness”. Nice!

–
The
creatures in the films are allergic to sunlight and crave blood much like all of my
ex-girlfriends, but are never
referred to as vampires in the film.

–
Richard
Matheson’s son says that his dad already saw the new film and called it “first
class”. That bodes well for us!

–
I AM LEGEND has been in development for about 10 years or so. Arnold
Schwarzenegger was attached to the project in the 90’s, up until the point
that he became
governor. Ridley Scott was set to direct. They even had an art department opened
up and were scouting locations. It didn’t happen due to an over inflating budget.

–
Steve
Niles was deeply affected by the “I Am Legend” book as a kid. When he was 19 years
old, he approached Richard Matheson with the idea of doing a graphic novel of his
book. Matheson let Niles

do it for 100 bucks.

–
The
comic acts as a prequel to the film, exploring the events that eventually bring
us to Neville alone on earth having to fend off pesky “vampires”.

–
The
comic is far from just a promotional tool for the film, it is also a valid extension
of it. Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith are very much involved in its
development and are actually the ones who pitched it to WB in the first place.

–
The
comic book prequel focuses on a family that is stuck in traffic during rush hour
when the vamp epidemic breaks out.

–
Even though the book was set in San Francisco, then L.A., it
eventually ended up in New York for the film. Protosevich
said that it might’ve been because they wanted to see what that city
would look like after such a thing.

Keep
tabs on everything that is
“I Am Legend” here!