I Am legend was supposed to be a trilogy with Will Smith's Neville teaming up with the Darkseekers, but that plan was scrapped - here's why. I Am legend was adapted twice before the Will Smith film, once in 1964 with Vincent Price's The Last Man On Earth and again in 1971 with Charlton Heston's The Omega Man, the latter of which is one of Tim Burton's favourite horror films. I Am legend, Will Smith's film, had a tumultuous production process. It was supposed to be directed by Ridley Scott and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Warner Bros. cancelled it due to Scott's pricey and gloomy R-rated concept.
Directors like Rob Bowman (The X-Files) and Michael Bay circled I Am legend in the years after, with the concept going through multiple modifications. Finally, Smith signed on as Robert Neville, the lone survivor in a world where a virus has wiped out most of humanity and transformed the survivors into nocturnal Darkseekers. I Am Legend's frightening depiction of an abandoned New York, along with Smith's emotional performance, helped the film become a hit.
The theatrical finale, in contrast to I Am Legend's excellent alternate ending, saw Neville sacrifice himself to save two other survivors he discovered, Anna (Alice Braga) and a youngster named Ethan, as well as a potential cure. The original shot ending, on the other hand, revealed that the monsters were sentient and emotionless, and that they only attacked Neville's sanctuary to save one of their own. Neville, Anna, and Ethan are spotted departing the city for unknown destinations after the Darkseekers allow him to live.
