Earlier this week, Jeff Daniels and Colin Hanks were pegged for roles in Steven Spielberg’s Chicago 7, which seems to have bypassed both Lincoln and Interstellar as the director’s next project. There are also reports that Sacha Baron Cohen is not a lock for 7’s lead role, that of ’60s rabble rouser Abbie Hoffman. One actor who has confirmed that’s he’s in talks to star is Will Smith…
“When Steve is ready he will send it, Smith told Collider. I don’t know specifics, story, anything, but he told me the filming dates, so I can be free to do it. It’s not a 100% sure thing yet, but I’m confident.”
It’s believed that Smith is up for the role of Black Panther Bobby Seale, who was put on trial on federal conspiracy charges, alongside other protesters, intellectuals and self-proclaimed revolutionaries, for the anti-war riots that swarmed Chicago during the 1968 Democratic Convention.
Smith also confirmed alongside director Francis Lawrence that an alternative ending will be included on the I Am Legend DVD, calling it “less commercial” and hinting that six seconds of it were included in one of the teaser trailers. Could this new ending be more faithful to the forever bleak conclusion in the eponymous Richard Matheson novel?
January 16th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Thank fucking god.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Hate to burst a bubble, but the alternate ending was Will surviving, ala the vampires all up in his face and he gives them the girl vamp back and he makes it to the survivors with the woman and child. Not really like the book….
January 16th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I always wondered about that. Ever since Scream 2 I’ve noticed people put scenes in trailers that don’t always make the final cut. Smith with the vampires within his reach and neither doing a thing was a shot I couldn’t wait to see, but was sad when it didn’t make it. I think if he did end up survivng it would be more commercial than the main star being killed off, right? I mean, he was immune.
January 16th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
RYAN, how the hell would Smith surviving and making it to the survivors camp with the women&child “less commercial”. i agree with greyson. To me when Smith says the ending is “less commercial” it must mean he dies along with the women and child, i’m guessing they kill the lady and her son then, he(Smith) is taken to the vampire nest and explained how he is a legend to vampires— I AM LEGEND
just a thought.
January 16th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
*sigh*
January 16th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Zach, I am not disagreeing with you, but i know for a fact that they had two endings for the film up until 2 weeks before it was released, one being the one we saw and the other being the ending in which the vampires make it into the room with him and surround him and he turns the girl back into a vampire and they leave with her and leave Will, the woman, and the child alive and they make it to the Vermont or whatever together. Now it may be possible that there is a more faithful to the book ending also, but nothing that I have seen.
January 16th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I hpoe it’s like the book’s ending… I hated the ending in the movie since I knew what it should have been.
January 17th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Just to jump in in support of Ryan’s posts: the latest issue of Cinefax has an article on the visual effects for I Am Legend. Per their style, they take readers through the story, stopping for specific effects sequences. The last two paragraphs in the article describe the more optimistic ending Ryan mentions. Presumably the writer either saw an early cut, read the shooting script or both.
January 17th, 2008 at 10:13 am
no amount of alternate ending can ever make up for how much the rest of the movie sucked and destroyed the book
January 17th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Can someone point me to a spot that details the original ending? (please don’t just point to the book) Thanks.
January 17th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Andrew, the Wikipedia entry for Richard Matheson’s novel gives a fairly solid breakdown of the plot, including the ending:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Legend
March 6th, 2008 at 4:02 am
Actually, i dont like either endings. I thought there was more pathos in this alternative one, but still, SPOILER!!!!
Neville survives! He just…shouldnt. He is Legend. Not some bloke being driven in a 4wd by a chick looking for a country retreat. He MUST die! I quite liked the movie. I thought it was a million times better than what i dreaded. But, i still think Last man on Earth is more faithful to the wonderful novel. And i think, CGI lions aside, is better.