It was quite a bombshell when, 15 years after the release of ‘I Am Legend’, the start of a sequel was announced. The great moment that Will Smith was going through thanks to ‘The Williams Way ‘ surely had something to do with it, but then the project has advanced rather slowly, and I suspect that the actor’s assault on Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars gala greatly affected it.
By then, he had several projects under his belt, among which ‘I Am Legend 2’ stood out . After a short break motivated by wanting to get away from the spotlight, Smith is already planning how to revive his career and it is clear that the sequel to one of his biggest hits – it grossed $585.4 million in theaters against a budget of 150 – is an integral part of that. Below we will review everything that is known about it.
The story
Akiva Goldsman , one of the screenwriters of the first installment who will do that work alone here, has confirmed that the sequel will be more faithful to the original novel by Richard Matheson and will also be influenced by ‘The Last of Us’ . It will start several decades later and to justify the reappearance of Will Smith’s character, the original outcome will be ignored so that the alternative ending becomes canon . An unprecedented decision in Hollywood.
I am Legend 2 release date
Warner has not yet set a release date for ‘I Am Legend 2’, but everything points to the fact that we will have to wait until at least 2026 to see it , since the Hollywood strikes of 2023 paralyzed everything for months and the first version of the script was not ready until the end of 2023. Once they are satisfied with it, it will be time to put the whole machinery in motion, and that takes time. However, Jordan revealed in June 2024 that the script was not yet ready and that he did not even know when the film was going to be shot, so it seems to me that we will not see it before 2026.
Cast and protagonists
Will Smith will reprise the role of Robert Neville, leaving the possibility of one or more of the main characters from the first installment returning for the sequel up in the air. Ideally, at least Alice Braga ( ‘City of God’ ) and Charlie Tahan ( ‘Ozark’ ) would return as Anna and Ethan, but given the time jump, they can always find an excuse to do without them.
The big news in the cast so far is the signing of Michael B. Jordan , an actor who is on the rise in Hollywood and who recently had a huge success with ‘Creed 3’ , in which he also serves as director. That will not be the case in the case of ‘I Am Legend 2’, although he will be one of the producers of the film.
What we don’t have yet is a director, but Warner has already chosen someone . There will be changes in that, since Francis Lawrence will not be back behind the cameras. Unless there is a last-minute surprise, that place will be occupied by Steven Caple Jr. , head of titles such as ‘Creed 2’ and ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ ,
So it is most likely that Francis Lawrence will not return behind the cameras, something logical if we take into account that he will return for ‘Constantine 2’ , and of course, his schedule surely makes it impossible for him to combine two such ambitious productions.
Trailer, images and poster
If filming hasn’t started yet, it’s clear that we don’t have any images of ‘I Am Legend 2’ yet. As soon as we see one, we’ll include it here.
