Depp Never Was Legend

According to Arrow in the Head, Johnny Depp was never, ever going to be in I Am Legend.

Which, on the one hand, is good. Why? Because it suggests that they’ve not messed about with the script too much, and introduced a buddy pairing of Depp and Smith versus mutant vampire hordes.

However, Arrow is also reporting that the script mirrors the Charlton Heston Omega Man remake, rather than Matheson’s original novel. Which - in my book - means this is going to suck quite badly. Apologies for the pun.

The more I hear about Legend, the more I’m convinced we’re heading for a I, Robot remake with hordes of cgi vampires instead of hordes of cgi robots.

Hopefully - and I am hopeful - 30 Days Of Night will live up to my expectations.

Depp is Legend

ComingSoon are reporting that Johnny Depp is joining Will Smith on I Am Legend.

Now: I hate the idea of Smith playing Neville in this film, but if Johnny Depp is playing Cortman - Neville’s Vampiric neighbour - I’m interested.

I really, really, really hope this thing is done right. The presence of Smith seems to suggest that it won’t be, but I’m willing to keep an open mind at this stage.

I Am Smith

ComingSoon reports that Will Smith is going to star in I Am Legend. Oh dear.

This rumour has been kicked around before, but ComingSoon make it sound fairly official. Akiva Goldsman has rewritten the script and is producing, which probably means we'll get I, Robot with vampires. Except for the fact that ComingSoon describes the film as "Set in post-apocalyptic New York, I Am Legend is about the last healthy man following the release of a virus that decimates the population. To survive, he must battle mutants that wreak havoc during the night." So I, Mutant then. Hang on, mutants? No! Vampires; I Am Legend is about vampires for God's sake, even though they're never mentioned by name. Near Dark never mentions vampires by name either, and that's not about mutants is it? Having said that, maybe in the remake…

What it sounds like we're going to get is a remake of The Omega Man, rather than a faithful adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic novel. Which is a damn shame; Matheson's book would make a beautiful film if done right, full of sadness and tension. In order to do it right though, you need a leading man who's capable of convincingly and interestingly being the only thing on screen for a large chunk of the running time. I don't think Will Smith can do that. Although, there was talk of Arnie being in this a while back, and Smith is probably a better choice. Probably…

And if you've never read the book, do so - if you hadn't guessed it's one of my favourites. It won't take you long, trust me.