Akiva Goldsman is returning to Warner Bros, with a multi-year first-look deal focusing on Will Smith and Michael B Jordan-starring I Am Legend and Keanu Reeves’ Constantine 2, Deadline has reported. The acclaimed writer-producer has worked on features like Apple TV’s upcoming The Crowded Room, Star Trek spinoffs Strange New Worlds, and Picard. He’s now set to focus on the Warner Bros. features under their new content strategy.
Last year, the industry witnessed a major overhaul as Discovery merged with Warner Bros and made some sweeping changes under David Zaslav’s command. Multiple shows and features were axed while the studio focuses on big-budget theatrical releases, including its DC universe which is now under joined commands of James Gunn and Peter Safran. Now Goldsman is tasked with cracking the sequel I am a Legend, which the studio is trying to crack for some time now. While the writer/producer stayed tight-lipped about how Jordan fits into the last-man-on-earth storyline, he revealed that the film will lean into the Richard Matheson novel the original was based on.
He further cited his latest obsession, HBO’s Survival drama The Last of Us, saying, “This will start a few decades later than the first.” Further adding, “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?” He further revealed the setting and themes of the feature saying:
“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. We trace back to the original Matheson book, and the alternate ending as opposed to the released ending in the original film. 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.”
Goldsman also revealed that Warner Bros studio heads, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy shares his commitment to “target thoughtful things that can play theatrically. We’re all trying to figure out where that strike zone is, and I want to be able to help with IP I know and find pieces that are a little more actor-ey and story driven but not as IP driven.”
No further details about the sequel have been released yet. Watch out for this space for further developments.