I Am Legend sequel starring Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan in development

Here’s something I certainly didn’t see coming today: Deadline has reported that Warner Bros. is developing a sequel to I Am Legend. Not only that, but original star Will Smith will be back and he’ll be joined by Michael B. Jordan. Both actors will also be producing the project alongside original screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, who will also be penning the sequel script.

Loosely based on the novel of the same name by Richard Matheson, I Am Legend starred Will Smith as a U.S. Army virologist who is struggling to develop a cure for a virus that has wiped out most of mankind while also defending himself from a bunch of nocturnal mutants. It’s been a while since I last watched the movie, but I recall the first half with Smith completely alone in the deserted ruins of Manhattan to be quite powerful. Now, I’m getting into SPOILERS for a fifteen year old movie at this point, so consider yourself warned.

If, like me, it’s been a while since you’ve watched I Am Legend, you might be wondering how Will Smith could return for a sequel given that his character died at the end of the first movie; well, there is an alternate ending to the film that follows the original novel more closely. In it, Smith’s character comes to realize that he’s become a monster in the eyes of the the mutants he’s been experimenting on and leaves the city with several other survivors.

Since the release of the film in 2007, Warner Bros. has been looking to develop a sequel/prequel or even a reboot, but the projects weren’t able to get off the ground. This latest attempt is still getting off the ground, but Will Smith and Micheal B. Jordan are firmly attached and the search for a director is on. Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) helmed the original movie. I Am Legend has been adapted to the big-screen twice before with The Last Man on Earth in 1964 with Vincent Price and I Am Omega in 1971 with Charlton Heston.

Are you ready for a sequel to I Am Legend with Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan?