It is official, Warner Bros has greenlit a prequel to I Am Legend. Will Smith has signed on to reprise his role as Robert Neville, and Francis Lawrence has returned as director. Looks like Lawrence won’t be finding time to work on Chuck Palahniuk’s Survivor anytime soon. According to Variety, D.B. Weiss (The Game) is writing the script based on a detailed plot outline that was developed over the past few months by Smith, Lawrence, Akiva Goldsman (producer and screenwriter of the original).

The prequel will follow Neville in the last days before and after the man-made virus kills/mutates New York City. A sequel was considered, but obviously wouldn’t have been possible without starting over with a completely new lead character/actor. No word on if author Richard Matheson was consulted about the film. Apocalyptic stories usually sit in one of two categories, pre-Apocalyptic (ie Armageddon, Independence Day) or post-Apocalyptic (I Am Legend, Children of Men), so it will be an interesting change to see a film which might straddle both.

Discuss: Do you want to see a prequel to I Am Legend? I’d rather see Lawrence tackle Palahniuk’s Survivor.