‘Creed II’s Steven Caple Jr. May Direct ‘I Am Legend 2’

(Left) Director Steven Caple Jr. on the set of ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.’ Paramount Pictures and Skydance Present in association with Hasbro and New Republic Pictures, a di Bonaventura Pictures Production, a Tom Desanto /Don Murphy Production, a Bay Films Production. (Right) Will Smith in 2007’s ‘I Am Legend.’

Preview:

‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ director Steven Caple Jr. is being considered for ‘I Am Legend 2’.
Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan are starring in and producing the movie.
Akiva Goldsman’s writing the script and shepherding the film.

Given that the last proper update on an attempt to make a sequel to 2007 post-apocalyptic Will Smith thriller ‘I Am Legend’ was all the way back in 2022, you might be forgiven for having forgotten it was happening at all.

Yet, despite the excitement back then (especially with word that Smith is returning to star and will be joined this time by ‘Creed’ and ‘Black Panther’ actor Michael B. Jordan) and the occasional mild update on its status, things have been largely quiet until now.

Writer and producer Akiva Goldsman used an appearance on a Collider producers’ panel at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con to reveal that he was still busy writing, having met with Smith and Jordan and cracked into a second draft.

And while the original film was directed by Francis Lawrence, he would seem to be too busy these days with ‘Hunger Games’ prequel films and making an adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Long Walk’.

Now, according to Deadline, there is a new name in the mix, as ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ director Steven Caple Jr., who had been in early talks to direct a follow-up melding the Robots in Disguise with the ‘G.I. Joe’ movie franchise, is now Warner Bros.’ top pick to handle ‘I Am Legend 2’.

The trade site is at pains to point out that it’s early days for this and that the studio met with other directors, but Caple Jr. has one helpful advantage in that he worked with Jordan on ‘Creed II’.

What’s the story of ‘I Am Legend’?

Will Smith in 2007’s ‘I Am Legend.’

‘I am Legend’, in case it has slipped into the cloudy recesses of your memory, saw writers Goldsman and Mark Protosevich adapting Richard Matheson’s much-praised 1954 novel, which posited a world where a devastating virus had wiped out almost all of humanity and turned the rest into vampire-like mutants who roam the world looking for victims.

Robert Neville, the focus of the story, goes on a mission to find the scientific basis for the pandemic that caused all this, and chronicles his increasingly stressed encounters with his fellow former humans.

The book was adapted several times into movies, including 1964’s ‘The Last Man on Earth’, 1971’s ‘The Omega Man’ and then the 2007 movie.

In that adaptation, directed by ‘Constantine’s Lawrence, Smith plays Neville, who is an army virologist surviving in a ruined New York and looking to find a cure for the virus that caused all the trouble – which was originally a mutated measles strain intended to cure cancer. His wife and daughter died in a helicopter crash as they attempted to flee a quarantine of Manhattan and Neville has company in the shape of his German Shepherd dog Sam.

And so as to avoid spoilers for the film (even if it is 17 years old now), we’ll just say that things don’t go so well for Neville. Yet there was an alternate ending (seen on some home entertainment releases) in which he survived.

Where will ‘I Am Legend 2’ go?

Will Smith in 2007’s ‘I Am Legend.’

According to writer Goldsman, the plan for the new movie is to continue the story in the world where Smith’s character lives and trying to survive in the vampire-infested landscape is still not easy.

Here’s what Goldsman said at Comic-Con about the idea:

“The world returns in a way that is kind of spectacular –– an exciting playground for all of us –– not your father’s ‘I Am Legend’.”

When will ‘I Am Legend 2’ be in theaters?

The ‘I Am Legend’ follow-up does not, as yet, have a release date set.

Director Steven Caple Jr. on the set of ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.’ Paramount Pictures and Skydance Present in association with Hasbro and New Republic Pictures, a di Bonaventura Pictures Production, a Tom Desanto /Don Murphy Production, a Bay Films Production.