r/movies • u/RafiakaMacakaDirk • Feb 15 '23
Akiva Goldsman announces ‘I AM LEGEND 2’, starring Michael B. Jordan and Will Smith, will be set decades after the original film. The alternate ending for the original film will be canon in the sequel. Article
https://deadline.com/2023/02/akiva-goldsman-first-look-warner-bros-deal-constantine-keanu-reeves-i-am-legend-will-smith-michael-b-jordan-sequels-1235260641/1.7k
u/riegspsych325 r/Movies Veteran Feb 15 '23
I remember when they tried getting this off the ground years ago, one of the supposed scripts had Smith’s character be cloned back to life. Perhaps making the other ending canon is the better choice
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u/jimisaltieris Feb 15 '23
Tell it to James Cameron
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u/skancerous Feb 16 '23
I've read somewhere that future Avatar movies wi be set in Earth
I'm so fucking sure they'll clone Na'vi into human bodies
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Feb 16 '23
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u/krimzixythe Feb 16 '23
That'd be kind of like Altered Carbon.
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Feb 16 '23
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u/Sancticide Feb 16 '23
It's odd, I didn't truly dislike S2, it just wasn't the show we signed up for. If it had been the plot to a different show, it could've been pretty good in its own right, with the story about the aliens and all that. We wanted future cyberpunk and got something else tacked onto the ideas of AC.
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u/Masculinum Feb 16 '23
The drop in budget was also very obvious in S2 and Mackie wasn't a great fit for the role imo.
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u/TorsoPanties Feb 16 '23
I get the whole different body thing, but the actor swap just didnt work for me. In flash backs yes it works... but it was too jarring to follow. Then from what I did watch it was some homeless looking people in a forest arguing for a while. These a vague memories of one or 2 episodes
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u/skancerous Feb 16 '23
Pretty sure there's a movie about that
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u/u_creative_username Feb 16 '23
Surrogates with Bruce Willis I think. But it's been a long time since I've seen it
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u/MalignantFanAccount Feb 16 '23
I'll never forget how long those stupid clickbait articles you see at the bottom of websites you actually read, were lying about a part 2 using the imagine of Will Smith with a mouth full of fangs from that time he played the Devil in Akiva Goldsman's sole directorial effort Winters Tale.
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u/ofimmsl Feb 15 '23
I 2 Am Legend
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u/StopLookandFreeze Feb 15 '23
You know I'm something of a Legend myself.
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u/El_Zorro09 Feb 16 '23
What're we, some kinda legend squad?
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u/darkrabbit713 Feb 16 '23
This is Legend. He’s got my back. He can slap the shit outta all of you with one backhand stroke, just like playing the tennis. I would advise not keeping his wife’s name in your mouth. His wife traps the souls of its victims.
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u/mrnikkoli Feb 16 '23
I can't wait for Will Smith to say "I am Legend" and then for Michael B. Jordan to look directly into the camera and say "I am Legend Too."
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u/soulfulcandy Feb 16 '23
Better yet when then both turn to the camera and say “It’s Legendin’ Time”
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u/Bomber131313 Feb 15 '23
Wow, using the one ending that actually fits the rest of the film, I'm a little surprised they are basically admitting they got that one wrong the first time.
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Feb 15 '23
"I fucked up, give me a chance to atone" would seem to be a running theme here.
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u/ricklessness Feb 15 '23
“We fucked up, but let’s make $$$ with a sequel and still have will smith in this”
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u/urgasmic Feb 15 '23
i'd admit i was wrong if it meant keeping a big star for the sequel.
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u/McNobby Feb 15 '23
big star
Just say his name.
But not his wife's. Keep that out yo' mouth.
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u/Wasabi_Guacamole Feb 15 '23
They based the decision on test screenings lol. Should've stuck with their beliefs and released the alternafe ending as the real one in the first place.
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u/Whitewind617 Feb 16 '23
I'm always suspicious of test screenings for this reason. The audiences that led to the theatrical ending being used were frigging morons.
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u/EnterPlayerTwo Feb 16 '23
Pretty sure they just scoop up whoever is outside the studio that day with a big net.
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u/martinmartinez123 Feb 15 '23
They're admitting no such thing. They're just using it because it's convenient for milking it for a sequel.
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u/pattyputty Feb 15 '23
I mean, finding a cure for the disease would also make an interesting sequel. But honestly the alternate ending was just plain better so I'm glad they're at least going with that one
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u/Ric_Adbur Feb 16 '23
The thing is, the "alternate" ending is the real ending. It's more directly in line with the ending of the book the movie is based on. Literally 100% of the point of the entire story is that he ultimately discovers that he was the monster, not them. It's supposed to be a commentary on how easy it is to descend into villainy when all you're focused on is achieving a specific result.
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u/lazyironman Feb 16 '23
Yeah but they kill Neville at the end of the book
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Feb 16 '23
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u/UCLAKoolman Feb 16 '23
Really wish we get a more faithful adaptation of this book someday. Can’t really stand the CG zombies in the Will Smith one.
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u/BionicTriforce Feb 16 '23 edited Feb 16 '23
Yeah that's why I've never believed that the 'alternate ending' works. It may be more in tune with the way the book plays out, but the rest of the movie itself is so different that seeing the zombies act 'civilized' comes across as weird. I know they make traps in the film, but I didn't even understand that the first few times, I thought he was so distressed about his dog that he accidentally stepped into his own trap, so they don't even set up the alternate ending well.
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u/Oggie243 Feb 16 '23
At the crux of it though it demonstrates that they aren't just mindless monsters far removed from the humans they once were.
They're primitive in comparison to the book but the movie shows you the creatures first, as mindless beasts huddling in darkness snared in traps, to being capable of hunting the hunter using bait, a snare and studying his habits; to eventually the realisation in the climax that they have complex personal relationships and emotive motivations.
They're not civilisations with judicial systems and show trials like the books, but they're shown to be a much more complex society than the feral inhumane monsters they're introduced as.
The book doesn't really have to do this because it can muse on the creatures and their relationships through Neville's thoughts in a way the movie can't. In a 90min run time there isn't much room for discussing whether the 'vampires' destroy mirrors because they fear what they've become of if it's because they believe themselves to vampires and know vampires to be afraid of their reflections.
I agree the movie could have been a bit clearer and better edited though
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u/drewster23 Feb 16 '23
I fully understood the traps and stuff, an that definitely didn't relay civilized , more just basic "intelligence" (not just rabid monsters). So i definitely agree would be a weird fit.
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Feb 16 '23
The book also present the civilized vampires in a somewhat bad light, as their introduction (besides Ruth) shows them exterminating the "feral" vampires. Who, as shown by Robert's old neighbour Ben Cortman, are also somewhat intelligent and not mindless zombies.
The book is more about Robert becoming the boogieman for the next civilization. Which itself is quite human and not as utopic as Ruth presents it as.
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u/brickmaster32000 Feb 16 '23
It's more directly in line with the ending of the book the movie is based on.
Barely. It is the least bad option but let's not pretend it is anything like what the books ending was. If you read the book you can squint real hard and maybe convince yourself it is following the same route but anyone who wasn't already familiar with the book won't come up with the same commentary.
At best the second ending shows the zombies are capable of gratitude but that's it.
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u/SpaceGoonie Feb 15 '23
I honestly don't think I have ever seen an alternate ending. I have the movie at home, I wonder if it's on there?
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u/SXOSXO Feb 15 '23
Didn't they only change it because screening audiences didn't like the original ending?
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u/FlightlessSc0tsman Feb 15 '23
Akiva Goldsman. Proof that widespread availability of the word processor was a mistake.
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Feb 15 '23
I knew what was coming the second I saw his name attached to the Dark Tower movie.
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u/Beardopus Feb 15 '23
Man turns everything he touches to trash.
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u/U_feel_Me Feb 16 '23
Even the greatest writer can have his work mangled by producers and studios … BUT THERE IS A LIMIT! At some point, having your name on trash over and over, especially widely advertised, big budget trash with major stars should kill your career. And the trash Goldsman is attached to is trash specifically because the writing and/or story are lazy and sloppy and kind of insulting to the audience.
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u/trouser-chowder Feb 16 '23
I'm convinced that his involvement with Picard, coupled with allowing Patrick Stewart greater creative input, is why the show sucks as bad as it does.
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u/Seienchin88 Feb 16 '23
I mean he definitely negatively impacted Discovery...
For Picard? I have no clue how they could fuck this up so badly...
Season 1 was cringey as hell but did at least do the "threads of mystery through all episodes" somewhat competently. Picard season 2 was just utter trash and involuntarily funny as hell. Its like a parody of Star Trek`s worst Episodes:
- Completely illogical parallel / time paradox world? Check!
- Severe budget shortage leading to most of the show taking place in "our Earth"? Check! And made double severe by spending 1 hour in Picards Basement alone...
- Dramatic new character background story ignoring all continuity? Check! (One might think Picard used to have a brother and when the two bounded again that they would have addressed their mother killing herself...)
- A badly played over the top villain? Check and double check to have Brent Spinner play him...
- The borg being misused and made even less scary? Check and double check for "they were just lonely"... wtf?
- Last minute saves and unnecessary sacrifices... Check
- Ships getting instantly deactivated and taken over...
And on top of all of that someone seriously wrote "Borg Queen has a on the spot choreographed and aligned singing and dancing number, tries to bang a guy and then sucks on some old car batteries..." and "An angry Brent Spinner tries to kill Picard with his car in a scene reminding of Mr. Bean movies..."...
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u/AlekBalderdash Feb 16 '23
Borg Queen has a on the spot choreographed and aligned singing and dancing number, tries to bang a guy and then sucks on some old car batteries...
wut
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u/scabbedwings Feb 16 '23
wut
That was, in fact, most people’s reaction to the actual scenes
Although I thought Alison Pill was awesome in the role. A case of of (IMO) great acting of a mediocre-to-bad script
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u/drawkbox Feb 16 '23
The sad thing is there are probably so many people that worked on that that knew there was nothing they could do. It is like watching bad workers at work just fuck shit up and it is a slow train wreck.
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u/Pancake_muncher Feb 15 '23
Academy Award winner too. Beautiful Mind is good, but cliche.
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u/BoredGuy2007 Feb 15 '23
Russell Crowe took that mediocre script and elevated it. Phenomenal stuff
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u/petty_cash Feb 16 '23
And Ron Howard’s directing. But you’re right that Crowe was phenomenal in that.
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u/Rickrickrickrickrick Feb 16 '23
Reminds me of what he said about the Gladiator scene where he takes off his helmet and reveals who he is. He said it was some of the worst writing he’s ever seen but he’ll make it good because “I’m the best fucking actor in the world” lol
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u/palerthanrice Feb 16 '23
A Beautiful Mind is an insane movie because it was obviously written by someone who knows nothing about schizophrenia or math, which are the two main subjects that drive the whole plot.
Nash's real life story is way more interesting than what was shown in the movie. It would be so bizarre to be a 73 year old John Nash watching that movie in the theaters.
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u/An-Okay-Alternative Feb 15 '23
I think it'd be cool if they adapted the I Am Legend novel.
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u/CrepsNotCrepes Feb 15 '23
A very faithful adaption which keeps the theme and the main idea of the story would be great, not just zombies and action.
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u/PmMeDrunkPics Feb 15 '23
Reminds me of how much of a disappointment World war Z was.
Man they should make an episodic miniseries where they'd recount different survivor stories in each ep. Like in the damn book
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u/TheMarsian Feb 16 '23
Yes! A miniseries. Band of Brothersesque. A lot of shows should have been miniseries - because they were either rushed or milked dry.
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u/ECKohns Feb 15 '23
I heard the Vincent Price movie “The Last Man on Earth” is the most faithful.
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u/monty_kurns Feb 15 '23
Probably helps Richard Matheson was the screenwriter on that one, though he used a pseudonym.
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u/GullibleSolipsist Feb 16 '23
The second adaptation, The Omega Man (1971), staring Charlton Heston, is my favourite of the three, and somewhat faithful to the book. It is, however, extremely, and somewhat hilariously, 1970s.
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u/demi-femi Feb 15 '23
It is, he's essentially the vamps version of the boogeyman.
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u/gooblobs Feb 15 '23
thats the whole point of the book. Like literally the entire point, its what the title actually refers to.
They somehow did not get the memo when they made the will smith movie.
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u/mackahrohn Feb 16 '23
Yea I really enjoyed the book and saw the movie and thought ‘this is just a generic zombie movie?’. The book was such an interesting but incredibly sad point of view.
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Feb 15 '23
Thank you. I was confused when I saw the movie, and then read the book and thought, "this is NOTHING like the movie."
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Feb 15 '23
Even with the unreleased ending its still a piss poor adaptation and I disagree when people say it fixes the movie or improves it. The understanding that the monsters have the thinnest baseline level of caring about eachother doesn't do the title or its intent justice especially with Neville living.
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u/DrNopeMD Feb 15 '23
I think it would make for a good mini series on HBO.
But Girl With All The Gifts exists already and that's somewhat thematically similar.
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u/NeoNoireWerewolf Feb 15 '23
This is kind of hilarious. They’ve wanted a sequel to this movie for fifteen years, and their solution is to just pretend the ending everybody knows (the one the studio ordered to be changed because audiences didn’t like the original one - you know, the one where Smith survives) didn’t happen. And of course Goldsman, the king of the hacks, is back to try and say they want to take inspiration from the book this time (the book he shit all over with his original script).
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u/HEYitzED Feb 15 '23
It was TEST audiences that didn’t like the alternate. See, the issue with test audiences is, they say something should be changed then it usually gets changed to something worse which is exactly what happened. Once the alternate ending was actually released most people agreed it was the much better ending. It’s unfortunate the theatrical is more well known because it sucks ass.
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u/The-Go-Kid Feb 16 '23
There's a shot in the original ending - when you can see the reflection of all the zombies he's killed in the glass - that is smart as fuck. A really brief, subtle way of saying "Robert was the bad guy all along" that requires the audience to figure it out, even if it's not that complicated.
Apparently the test audience were too fucking stupid to figure it out.
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u/NorthernerWuwu Feb 16 '23
Huh. They actually released the original ending (I guess we are calling that the alternate ending, the one the test audiences panned and got changed)?
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Feb 15 '23 edited Feb 15 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Silent1900 Feb 15 '23
Just wanted to say that I thought the book ending was really amazing as well. Not in an “ooh, plot twist!” way, but in a “Holy ****, was that a life altering lesson in perspective” kind of way. Really stuck with me.
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u/walterpeck1 Feb 15 '23 edited Feb 15 '23
I'm still puzzled why hollywood continues to change one of the best endings in a book I've ever read.
Because audiences writ large hate downer endings. The tag ending to The Descent was removed for North American audiences for this reason. That sucked. The ending to First Blood where Rambo kills himself was changed because the test audience hated it so much that one of them stood up and shouted at the projectionist's booth "you should be ashamed of yourselves!" (Stallone hated that ending too.)
As for I Am Legend, in addition to the above the script basically ripped out the background that would have made the book ending actually work. Even with the best ending in there it would have made not a lot of sense.
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u/duskywindows Feb 15 '23
The tag ending to The Decent
was this a prequel to "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly"??
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u/gooblobs Feb 15 '23
enlighten me on the tag ending to The Descent
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u/walterpeck1 Feb 15 '23
In the original release in the United Kingdom, an extended ending is presented, which was cut for the US release over concerns that it was too depressing. After hallucinating the image of Juno, Sarah awakens in the cave, her entire escape having been revealed to be part of the same hallucination. She sits up to see Jessica sitting across from her, holding a birthday cake. As Sarah smiles the shot widens to reveal that the cake's birthday-candlelight is actually the light of her torch. The camera slowly backs out, revealing the darkness surrounding Sarah as the crawlers are heard closing in.
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u/red_riders Feb 15 '23
I know. So are we just going to retcon endings that change the fates of characters just so we can make a canon-sequel. Why don’t we just make Saving Private Ryan 2 where everyone from the last twenty minutes comes back to do a sequel, fuck it. The ending to the original wasn’t really that important, right?
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u/Skyfryer Feb 15 '23
You know what I always get annoyed by. We were close to getting a Ridley Scott I Am Legend. The make up tests were pretty unsettling too.
I didn’t mind this one. It works, in a big way because of the direction. But the fact that the studio had him go with an ending that takes all of the wind out of the title hurt it’s lasting appeal when it released.
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u/spaceraingame Feb 15 '23
Good luck conveying to people that Will Smith's character isn't dead, since he died in the version most everyone saw...
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u/WigglestonTheFourth Feb 16 '23
They're going to open the sequel with a "flashback" scene which is just the alternate ending.
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u/cmacpapi Feb 15 '23
Literally just watched this movie for like the 4th time on streaming services about a week ago. And yep... Will Smith died.. again.. all 4 times.
They might wanna start by taking it off streaming.
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u/Final-Display-4692 Feb 16 '23
What would be the fix is to wide release on streaming with the alt ending
Problem solved other than some bitching
Easy fucking fix
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u/robertjreed717 Feb 15 '23
If we're gonna rewrite history let's bring the damn dog back
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u/ColdPressedSteak Feb 15 '23
Having to kill her and her dying in his arms. Then the video store scene right after 'please say hello to me' as he slowly realizes losing his dog was the last straw....
Best acting of his career. Better than all his obvious Oscar bait stuff. Even pursuit of happyness
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u/AnticitizenPrime Feb 16 '23
Yeah, if the movie had been, like. 25% better as a whole, it could have got a nom for best actor. It was a one man show for 90% of the film, and he carried it very well, talking only to a dog and mannequins and shit. He was really fantastic in it even if the movie itself ended up pretty mediocre.
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Feb 16 '23
Tbh never having read the book, pretty much all I remember is Will Smith's acting. I barely remember the dog or the monsters.
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u/Doomquill Feb 16 '23
If you're real you'd better tell me right now, Frank! If you're real you'd better tell me right now! [Shoots mannequin] Damnit Frank!
Such a good scene, man.
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u/byneothername Feb 15 '23
Justice for Sam. He could have had a faithful not-zombie dog once he gave up on the whole human thing.
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u/Putrid_Squirrel_3110 Feb 15 '23
I think the dog turning was the best scene in that film. Broke my damn heart
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u/WolfofOldNorth Feb 15 '23
Warner Brothers might be the worst run studio ever
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u/WebHead1287 Feb 15 '23
Still a firm believer that Sony is but WB sure puts up a fight
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u/KalElMeatOfSteel Feb 15 '23
KEEP the first I Am Legend ending out your FUCKING MOUTH!!
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u/BeekyGardener Feb 16 '23
I know I'm shitting on something people love here, but I despise I Am Legend's pivot. The title doesn't even make sense with the massive pivot.
He's the monster in the book.
How the book actually goes...
"After three years, Neville suddenly sees a terrified woman named Ruth in broad daylight. The two cautiously gain each other's trust and even share a romantic embrace. Neville explains some of his findings, including his theory that he developed immunity against the infection after being bitten by an infected vampire bat years ago. He prepares to test Ruth to determine if she is infected or immune, vowing to treat her if she is infected, but she knocks him unconscious. When Neville wakes, he discovers a note from her confessing that she is indeed a vampire herself. Her note suggests that only the undead vampires are pathologically violent but not those, like her, who were alive at the time of infection and who still survive due to chance mutations. These living-infected have slowly overcome their disease and are gradually developing a new society and new medications. Ruth admits she was sent to spy on him by her comrades and that he was responsible for the deaths of many of her fellow vampires, including her husband. Still, Ruth reiterates her romantic feelings for Neville and urges him to flee the city to avoid capture.
Neville ignores Ruth's warning, assuming he will be treated fairly by the new society of living-infected. However, his mind is changed when he watches a group of them annihilate the undead vampires outside his home with fiendish glee. In a panic, Neville opens fire on them but is in turn shot and subdued. Imprisoned and dying, he is visited by Ruth, who informs him that she is a senior member of the new society but, unlike the others who perceive him as a murderer, she does not resent him. She acknowledges the public need for Neville's execution but, out of mercy, gives him a packet of fast-acting suicide pills. Neville accepts his fate and asks Ruth not to let this society become too heartless. Ruth promises to try, kisses him, and leaves. Neville goes to his prison window and sees the infected staring back at him with the same hatred and fear that he once felt for them. He realizes that he, a remnant of old humanity, is now a legend to the new race born of the infection. He acknowledges that their desire to kill him, after he has killed so many of their loved ones, is not something he can condemn. As the pills take effect, he is amused by the thought that he will become their new superstition and legend, just as vampires once were to humans."
They gave it a happier ending with vampires that are slightly sentient in the alternate version.
He's "legend" not because he did something great, but because he's now a monster that will haunt vampire folklore.
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u/chigoonies Feb 16 '23
I was going to post “has anyone ever read the book” because the book ending was amazing…thank you for posting.
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u/chlamydial_lips Feb 15 '23
And like everything Akiva Goldsman has done, it will be awful
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u/Whogivesacare27 Feb 15 '23 edited Feb 15 '23
This thread is a great excuse to recommend "The Last Man on Earth" (1964) starring Vincent Price. It's based on the novel "I am Legend" and is likely the first zombie movie ever made (it was an inspiration for Romero's "Night of The Living Dead" and thus obviously predates it - while the monsters from The Last Man aren't specifically zombies, they share many of their characteristics, such as a mob mentality, slow reflexes or a virus outbreak infecting everyone as their origin)
It's up on Youtube too, although the quality isn't too high https://youtu.be/feQIhzNpBLQ (what's with the guy drinking a bottle of water lol?)
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Feb 15 '23
This is just a bad idea. Just remake the concept and keep it closer to the source material
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u/makwajam Feb 15 '23
I don't think I Am Legend needs a sequel.
Also, which was the theatrical ending? The one where he self sacrifices? Or hands over the lady creature? I forget.
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u/AgentQV Feb 15 '23
So does this mean they’re going to rerelease the first film to theaters and streaming with the alternate ending intact so everyone isn’t confused when Will Smith is alive?