Will Smith says I Am Legend is his most successful film

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

In more unlikely news today, Will Smith has spoken up in an interview with Awards Chatter Podcast about I AM LEGEND, of all things. The third of three films based on the classic Richard Matheson novella, it's also apparently his most artistically successful films. Go figure, right? He said:

I’m obsessed with trying to put small character dramas into the middle of blockbuster packages. The most successful I’ve ever been with that concept is I Am Legend.

I Am Legend easily could’ve been a stage play, right? You know, a one-man show, a dude with a dog — you generally would think you need a little bit more than that for a blockbuster, but to date that’s my biggest opening and my second biggest film.

So that’s an obsession for me, to not act so much that people don’t want to see it. You [can] act so much that you turn people off, or you [can] put so many creatures in it that now people don’t take the acting seriously.

I think that's the most anybody has thought about I AM LEGEND in at least five years, but that's a very interesting take on the extremely divisive movie. I enjoyed it enough as a popcorn flick, but Smith's enthusiasm makes me want to pay the film another visit. 

In I AM LEGEND:

Robert Neville, a brilliant scientist, is a survivor of a man-made plague that transforms humans into bloodthirsty mutants. He wanders alone through New York City, calling out for other possible survivors, and works on finding a cure for the plague using his own immune blood. Neville knows he is badly outnumbered and the odds are against him, and all the while, the infected wait for him to make a mistake that will deliver Neville into their hands.

I AM LEGEND also stars Alice Braga and Charlie Tahan, and it was directed by MOCKINGJAY's Francis Lawrence. If you want to check back on the movie and see if you agree with Mr. Smith, you can get it right here.