Despite being a critical and commercial smash for star Will Smith, 2007's sci-fi/horror film I Am Legend has still never gotten a sequel or prequel. It's perplexing, especially in the current pop culture landscape, where studios attempt to leverage just about any possible existing intellectual property they can get their hands on. Another surprising factor is the continued bankability and star power of Will Smith, who ably carried the majority of I Am Legend on his back with a complex, realistic performance.
Sure, it's fair to point out that I Am Legend didn't necessarily seem like a story primed for a follow-up, especially since - at least in the theatrical ending - Smith's character Dr. Robert Neville dies. That said, a movie not needing a sequel has rarely stopped Hollywood before, as long as a studio feels there's more money to be made. Fans often lament that fact, while also breaking down and going to see such unnecessary films, perpetuating the cycle.
Thankfully for those who've long wanted an I Am Legend 2 or an I Am Legend prequel, director Francis Lawrence once spoke in detail on the subject, effectively offering fans a window into what happened. It would appear that for once, the desire to make a buck didn't outweigh creative hurdles.
Why I Am Legend 2 Still Hasn't Happened
In 2008, it was first announced that an I Am Legend prequel was in the works, and that both Will Smith and Francis Lawrence were in talks to return, provided the script was worthwhile. At the time, Smith revealed that the film would see Robert Neville and a team head to Washington D.C. for a "last stand" against infected humans. The prequel would naturally lead up to what was revealed about Neville's past shortly before the fall of New York City in the first film. By 2011 though, no further development on I Am Legend 2 had occurred, and Lawrence proclaimed the project to be dead in the water.
Warner Bros. made further noise about making an I Am Legend prequel in 2012 and 2014, but Smith never ended up signing on, and both further projects went by the wayside. In a 2018 interview, Lawrence said that the studio was indeed very keen on making another I Am Legend movie, but that he - and presumably Smith - found all the potential ideas for the project lacking. Lawrence thought doing a prequel would be akin to doing a supernatural version of a film like Contagion, while trying to figure out some way to resurrect or clone Smith's Neville for a sequel would feel like a cheat. For now at least, it seems clear that Warner Bros. isn't interested in pursuing I Am Legend 2 without Smith involved, so the project will likely remain dead.