There’s a prequel in the works for I Am Legend, and like a lot of prequel ideas that explain everything to audiences who apparently need their hands held with everything, it seems just a tad absurd.
What happens before the virus gets unleashed that kills the world that’s so important to know? They made it, it’s deadly, and it kills the world, it’s the fact that it gets out and ends everything that’s important, not the fact that it was in development for years.
But then again, what do I know? I thought a prequel to Planet of the Apes was pointless for the same reason, we dropped the bomb and reverted back to apes because of it, but they still did a good job with a new one anyways.
Of course, there wouldn’t be much point of doing a second I Am Legend without Will Smith, and he was asked recently about a potential prequel, as well as why he turned down the lead role in Django Unchained.
As Collider reports, Smith says he may not do the Legend prequel, “Producers are working on it,” he said. “I’m not actually working on it. If it’s great, I’m into it.” Funny enough, Smith also claimed he doesn’t “want to be the sequel guy,” although he’s of course done Men in Black 3 and Bad Boys 2. “I figure I’ve got about six of seven more years where I can run and jump a little bit and then I’m going butt and gut for the rest of my career.”
Ironically enough, he also said if the fans want a Men in Black 4, he’d consider it. As far as Django, Smith said he dug the script, but was deep in Men In Black 3 at the time. “I came really close,” he explained. “It was one of the most amazing screenplays I had ever seen. I was in the middle of Men in Black 3 and [Tarantino] was ready to go, and I just couldn’t sit with him and get through the issues, so I didn’t want to hold him up. That thing’s going to be ridiculous. It is a genius screenplay.”
If was indeed genius to Smith, it’s surprising he couldn’t wait to do it, after all Kill Bill was delayed a year because Uma Thurman got pregnant, and it would have been very interesting to see Smith in the role, although judging by the trailer, Foxx should be terrific. As for what Smith is up to next, he’s got After Earth, the M Night Shyamalan sci-fi flick, and there’s no word yet what he’s doing after that in the time before he goes “butt and gut” the rest of his career.
