‘I Am Legend 2’ plot inspired by ‘The Last of Us’, says screenwriter

Will Smith travels to the future in ‘I Am Legend 2’.

The Best Actor Oscar winner will helm the sequel to the beloved 2007 thriller, set 20-30 years after the events of the first film. Screenwriter and producer Akiva Goldsman said that the video game “The Last of Us” and the HBO series directly inspired “I Am Legend 2.”

“This one starts a few decades later than the first one. I’m obsessed with ‘The Last of Us,’ where we see the world not only post-apocalypse, but also 20-30 years later,” said Goldsman. Deadline. “You see the Earth reclaiming the world, and there’s something beautiful about what happens when you move away from being the primary tenant?”

Goldsman continued, “It will be especially spectacular in New York. I don’t know if they climb the Empire State Building, but the possibilities are endless. We’re bringing back the original (Richard) Matheson book and the alternate ending as opposed to the ending that appeared in the original movie. Matheson talked about the end of man’s time as the dominant species on the planet. It’s a really interesting thing that we’re going to look into.”

As for the controversial change between the novel and the film, Goldsman said, “There will be a little more fidelity to the original text” for the sequel.

The original film has received a new boost in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as the story follows a scientist (Smith) living as a lone survivor in New York City after an airborne disease turns people into mutants.

Smith is recasting his role after more than a decade of continuity. The “Emancipation” star is joined by franchise newcomer Michael B. Jordan.

“It was one of those that I wanted to leave alone, and that’s when I heard the idea,” Smith previously told Entertainment Tonight . “This can work. I think we can do it.”

Smith teased that while the plot still remains under wraps, “it’s a really, really cool concept” and that Jordan was “part of the idea.”

Smith and Jordan are also in the works. A director is not yet publicly associated with the project.

Jordan and Smith take a look at the inspiration behind ‘I Am Legend 2’ Instagram By sharing the production of an infected city in March 2022.

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