Will Smith explains why he wasn't satisfied with I Am Legend's record-breaking box office. Based on the novel of the same name by Richard Matheson, I Am Legend starred Smith as Robert Neville, a scientist who survives a plague that wipes out most of humanity and turns the rest into monsters. Neville is surviving in post-apocalyptic New York City while attempting to find a cure. Smith led the film to a record-breaking $77 million opening — the best ever for a non-Christmas film released in December — in 2007.
While I Am Legend did well at the box office, pulling in a global haul of $585 million, it wasn't without controversy, particularly for the ending. In the original ending, Smith's character sacrifices himself to allow Anna (Alice Braga) and Ethan (Charlie Tahan) to escape with the newly discovered cure. However, the ending that was originally shot for I Am Legend saw Neville survive the final encounter and learning a valuable lesson in doing so. It wasn't so much a "happy" ending as it was a more satisfactory one as it related to the story, so much so that the film was re-released multiple times with the original ending put back in.
Talking to Oprah on Apple TV+'s The Oprah Conversation (via EW), Smith says that he wasn't satisfied with the $77 million record-breaking opening of I Am Legend and expressed as much at the time to his producing partner, James Lassiter. Smith said that when he got the news about the milestone achievement he was "excited for 30 seconds" before his mind began to drift, asking Lassiter why he thought they missed $80 million. Lassiter was shocked that Smith would even pose the question, seeing as they had just had the biggest December non-Christmas movie opening in history, but Smith persisted, questioning the ending of the film as a possible reason for not hitting a round number. Smith said, "No, it was 77, do you think if we would have adjusted the ending? Because I wanted the ending to feel more like Gladiator." Lassiter's dumbfounded response was, "It's the biggest opening in history, ever. What are you talking about?" to which Smith replied, "J, I get that, I'm just asking why do you think we missed the 80?" which prompted the producer to hang up on him, which Smith says is the only time that's ever happened. Smith concedes that his reaction at that time was an example of "the subtle sickness of material success."
A sequel to I Am Legend had long been discussed, although the theatrical ending of the film always posed a problem. Smith would go on to star in many more successful (and unsuccessful) films afterward, his biggest being 2019's Aladdin, which pulled in $1 billion at the global box office. Previously, he had topped his record with 2016's Suicide Squad, which pulled in $746 million globally. Smith will next be seen in King Richard, which opens in theaters and on HBO Max on November 19th.
Will Smith has been on a bit of a confessional tour of late, promoting King Richard as well as his autobiography, Will, which releases on November 7th. The prolific actor/producer has continued to get more and more candid about his life, his successes, like I Am Legend, and his failures, which are also being documented on his YouTube channel, where he attempts to get fit in the Best Shape Of My Life web series, as well as exploring the world in the NatGeo docu-series Welcome To Earth. Having such a long and distinguished career thus far, Smith has a lot of experience, both good and bad, to share with fans and at this rate, it appears that no stone will be left unturned, unless he's saving up for the next wave of content down the line.
Source: EW