Michael B Jordan, who’s set to co-star alongside Will Smith in I Am Legend 2, says that work on the sci-fi horror sequel is still ongoing.
Every now and again, somebody famous pops up to reassure the media that I Am Legend 2 is still happening. This time, it’s co-star Michael B Jordan’s turn: he’s said that the sci-fi horror sequel is “something that’s in the works,” but adds hints that it could be a while before it goes into production.
Talking to People magazine (via The Hollywood Reporter), Jordan said, “We’re still working on the script and getting that up to par,” and added that “It doesn’t have a release date or anything like that. I’m not sure exactly where we’re going to be filming that one, but I’m really excited to get in front of the camera with him [Will Smith].”
It’s a vague echo of what Will Smith said roughly six months ago. In a December 2023 interview, Smith said he was due to have a phone call with Jordan and that “a script just came in.”
All of which implies that not a great deal has happened in the intervening months; a script’s been written, and it’s now being rewritten, presumably by screenwriter Akiva Goldman. Goldsman, who co-wrote the first film from 2007, had begun work on the sequel script last spring, but then the Hollywood strikes got underway and he was forced to put his typewriter in the cupboard for a few months.
I Am Legend 2 was initially announced in 2022, with Will Smith reprising his role as virologist turned post-apocalyptic vampire hunter Dr Robert Neville. Michael B Jordan was also announced at the time as its co-star in an undisclosed role. Francis Lawrence, who directed the 2007 film, is also thought to be returning.
A follow-up to I Am Legend has been talked about for over 15 years now, with Lawrence saying in 2008 that there were plans to make a prequel. By 2012, the prequel had morphed into a sequel, with an unrelated script written by Gary Graham intended to be rewritten to fit the I Am Legend narrative.
Those plans also fizzled out, with talk of another I Am Legend dying down for almost a decade. Then again, I Am Legend films often have a tendency to take years to emerge. Richard Matheson’s immersive 1954 novel, already adapted for the screen as The Last Man On Earth and The Omega Man, was originally going to be adapted in the mid-1990s with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role.
Time will tell whether I Am Legend 2 will take an equally long time to emerge on the high and wide screen. We’ll bring you more as we get it.
