I Am Legend sequel to take inspiration from The Last of Us

A sequel to I Am Legend has officially been announced, with Will Smith set to reprise his role as Robert Neville, joined now by Michael B. Jordan.

The first I Am Legend told the story of a man believed to be the last human on Earth after a deadly virus wiped out the population. It received mixed reviews from critics but was a hit at the box office, grossing $585 million from a budget of $150m.

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Another entry in the franchise has been in the pipeline for a while, and it has been confirmed that Akiva Goldsman will pen the script.

Goldsman revealed to Deadline that I Am Legend 2 will take inspiration from The Last of Us, HBO's critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic series based on the video game of the same name.

"This will start a few decades later than the first," he said.

"I’m obsessed with 'The Last of Us', where we see the world just post-apocalypse but also after a 20-30-year lapse. You see how the earth reclaims the world, and there’s something beautiful in the question of, as man steps away from being the primary tenant, what happens?

"That will be especially visual in New York. I don’t know if they’ll climb up to the empire state building, but the possibilities are endless."

I Am Legend alternate ending

In the theatrical release for I Am Legend, Neville creates a cure for the virus that wiped out humanity, while killing a siginficant amount of the infected.

An alternate ending was produced which is a closer adaptation from the novel. In that, Neville comes face to face with another 'Darkseeker' while using one to create his cure. It is revealed that the male Darkseeker simply aims to save his mate, whom Neville is currently working on.

Realising that his experiments have caused harm to the Darkseekers, and that he is now effectively just as monstrous as them, he allows the pair to leave.

Goldsman says the alternate ending will become canon for the sequel.

“We trace back to the original Matheson book, and the alternate ending as opposed to the released ending in the original film," the writer and producer revealed.

"What Matheson was talking about was that man’s time on the planet as the dominant species had come to an end.

"That’s a really interesting thing we’re going to get to explore. There will be a little more fidelity to the original text.”