I was a fan of the original Asimov I, Robot short-story collection, and I enjoyed the original Wild, Wild West TV show.
I also enjoyed Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend.
Now Smith is Legend — and that’s probably not a good thing:
Will Smith will star in I Am Legend, the long-gestating Warner Brothers adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic SF novel, to be directed by Constantine helmer Francis Lawrence, Variety reported. Smith has a pay-or-play deal to make Legend his next project, after he completes Tonight, He Comes at Sony.Akiva Goldsman rewrote an original script by Mark Protosevich. An early 2007 start date is planned for the movie, which will be shot in New York.
The film moves the story from Los Angeles to a post-apocalyptic New York and will center on the last healthy man following the release of a virus that decimates the population. To survive, he must battle mutants that wreak havoc during the night.
Legend came closest to getting made back in 1997 with Ridley Scott directing Arnold Schwarzenegger. Warner applied the brakes because the budget hovered around $108 million, a figure considered high at the time. Michael Bay and Smith then aligned to have a go at the film in 2002, but the pairing didn’t advance.
Matheson’s book was the basis of previous movie adaptations, including the Vincent Price movie The Last Man on Earth and the Charlton Heston vehicle The Omega Man.