I Am Legend is getting a reboot ladies and gentlemen as Warner Bros. has apparently figured out that this movie could be turned into a massive franchise spanning many movies over a number of years.
The first film was a box office hit, as actor Will Smith did a fabulous job in his leading role. The film is all about a man who thought he was the last man on Earth, after a virus took over the planet and turned the majority of all humans into vampire-like creatures.
These creatures were not all gone though as they could be cured by Will Smith's character, Robert Neville.
We understand that Warner Bros. was interested in creating a sequel to I Am Legends but chose not to, for reasons we can't explain. However, plans for the reboot are well underway and could be hitting theaters by 2016 or 2017 if the film goes into production next year.
For the reboot, Will Smith will not be returning, and we're not sure if Warner Bros. will be using the character Robert Neville or someone else entirely. It is also not certain if the same vampire storyline will be used, but what's certain is that Warner Bros. is aiming for something along the lines of the sci-fi genre this time around.
Gary Graham has been called in to rewrite the script, and I Am Legend producers Akiva Goldsman, James Lassiter, and Joby Harold have all returned to tackle the new film.
The big question right now is whether or not a new I Am Legend film is capable of working. The original 2007 film worked because Warner Bros. found the right leading actor, and the plot was OK up to the end of the film. A reboot would need to ensure that ending doesn't turn out to be garbage and that the chosen last man on Earth actor is capable of keeping the audience interested.
On the matter of this new film being a franchise, it could work. The team just needs to make all the right decisions, or even just most of them to achieve success.
We're not surprised Warner Bros. is seeking to create a franchise from the new film as this is the area Hollywood has been headed in the last five years or more.
