‘I Am Legend 2’ Writer Reveals the Sequel Is Still Facing Serious Obstacles

Will Smith’s 2007 post-apocalyptic thriller has remained a genuine fan favorite for nearly two decades, largely thanks to its haunting depiction of a lone survivor navigating an empty New York City. Despite grossing $585 million worldwide against a $150 million budget, ‘I Am Legend’ never received the sequel treatment many assumed was inevitable, leaving fans waiting years for any real movement on a follow-up.

That wait finally seemed to be ending back in 2022, when Warner Bros. confirmed Smith and Michael B. Jordan were attached to star in and co-produce a long-awaited sequel, with original screenwriter Akiva Goldsman returning to pen the script. Since that announcement, however, updates on the project’s actual progress have remained frustratingly scarce, leaving fans to wonder whether the film was quietly stalling out.

Goldsman has now offered his most candid update yet on the sequel’s development, confirming that the project remains genuinely difficult to get off the ground despite his continued commitment to seeing it through. He said, “I have run up against a series of obstacles that I refuse to allow to defeat me,” in comments reported by Radio Times.

Goldsman emphasized that despite those setbacks, the team remains actively pressing forward, insisting they’re doing everything they can to eventually get the film made. That kind of persistence stands in contrast to several other long-gestating sequels that have quietly been abandoned entirely after facing similar creative or logistical roadblocks.

The sequel is set to follow directly from the alternate ending of the original film, in which Robert Neville survives rather than sacrificing himself to save the last of humanity. In that version, Neville realizes the infected Darkseekers were only trying to recover a captive test subject he’d taken, prompting him to abandon his research and journey to a survivors’ camp in Vermont alongside Alice Braga’s Anna.

Goldsman has confirmed the sequel will take place several decades after those events, drawing inspiration from “The Last of Us” in depicting how nature has reclaimed the ruins of civilization in the years since society’s collapse. That timeline gives the story room to explore an entirely new chapter of humanity’s survival rather than simply picking up immediately where the first film left off.

One detail Goldsman was quick to clarify involves the fate of any canine companions who might appear in the new film. Still reeling from the intense backlash he faced over the death of Neville’s German Shepherd Sam in the original movie, Goldsman joked that he wouldn’t survive the fan reaction if he killed off another dog, pointing out with some irony that audiences seemed far more troubled by Sam’s death than by the near-total extinction of humanity depicted in the same film.

Goldsman’s continued commitment to the project offers a notable contrast to other long-delayed sequels that have simply faded away after key creative figures moved on or lost interest, including projects like a fourth “Spider-Man” film and a follow-up to “Dredd.” Given how many long-gestating sequels have quietly died in development over the years, Goldsman’s persistence suggests “I Am Legend 2” still has a genuine chance of eventually reaching production.

That said, extended development periods carry their own risks, with some franchises losing cultural relevance the longer they sit in limbo. For every long-delayed sequel that manages to recapture its original magic, there are just as many cautionary tales of follow-ups that arrived too late to resonate with audiences the way their predecessors once did.

With Goldsman continuing to push through whatever obstacles currently stand in the way, fans of the original film will likely be watching closely for any further updates on when “I Am Legend 2” might finally move from script to screen. For now, the project remains very much alive, even if its path forward continues to prove more difficult than anyone initially anticipated.