Will Smith reveals how I Am Legend sequel was based on the original zombie horror's alternate ending, as he teases Michael B Jordan's character: "He's not my son"

Almost 20 years after Will Smith’s apocalyptic horror movie I Am Legend hit our screens, a long-awaited sequel is on the way. But, you may be thinking, 'Wait, didn't Smith die at the end of the film?', which is correct. However, it looks like Smith will be alive and well in the new movie as the star says the sequel will follow on from the movie’s alternate ending.

"What we were gonna do is the prequel," said Smith on the Drink Champs podcast. However, the star then explained that writer Akiva Goldsman suggested that they instead make a direct sequel following the 2007 movie’s alternate ending, where Smith’s protagonist Robert Neville survives.

Based on Richard Matheson‘s 1954 novel of the same name, the original zombie movie follows Smith’s lone scientist living in a city taken over by zombie-like creatures called Darkseekers, with only his dog as company. Throughout the movie, we see Neville conducting research on the undead to find a cure. But his trials are futile, as in the end, Neville sacrifices himself when he blows up the monsters so that his new friend Anna and her child can survive and take his cure to a nearby research facility.

However, when the movie was released digitally, it also included an alternate ending, which was supposed to show during the film’s theatrical release but was cut due to negative response from initial test screenings. The alternate final scene sees Neville face up to the lead zombie. But the monster doesn’t kill him, and instead takes back the female zombie that Neville was conducting his research on. The zombies then turn around and leave, suggesting that although they are vicious creatures, they are capable of human emotion.

"Six weeks before the movie comes out, we had to reshoot the ending that was actually in the movie where my character dies," Smith explained. However, the star added that the team wanted to keep the alternate ending, but chose not to release it theatrically due to audiences "hating" it. "It was probably an $8 million ending that got scrapped, ’cause there was special effects and all that stuff in it."

Although little has been released about the sequel, we do know that it will take place decades after the original movie and will also star Black Panther’s Michael B Jordan, as well as Smith. "Michael B. Jordan‘s character currently is the head of a new settlement … in Connecticut," Smith said. "He’s not my son."

The I Am Legend sequel does not yet have a release date. For more, check out our list of the best zombie movies, or keep up with upcoming horror movies heading your way.