Richard Matheson's classic horror / sci-fi novel I Am Legend has been one of the Great Unmade projects in Hollywood for a good couple of decades now. But today, the news that Constantine's Francis Lawrence has signed on to direct means that the project may finally be headed to our screens.
The story has been filmed before – once with Vincent Price in 1964 (as The Last Man On Earth) and once with Charlton Heston in The Omega Man in 1971. Neither really satisfied fans of the book, however, who are hoping that this version will stick more closely to the novel's plot.
This most recent version seems pretty faithful – it's set in Los Angeles after a biological war that has turned most of the human race into daylight-hating mutants. The sole healthy survivor wages a daily war against the mutants, before spending every night under siege by the unnatural beasties.
This latest incarnation has been kicking around Hollywood for years, with the script, by Mark Protosevich (The Cell, the upcoming Poseidon remake), gaining considerable buzz in the industry and online. At one point, Arnold Schwarzenegger was aboard the tale, with Ridley Scott set to direct. Then the Governator, still attached but in a production role, apparently courted Will Smith for the lead, lining up Michael Bay as the man with the megaphone.
And now it's Lawrence's turn at the wheel. After the success of Constantine, and his kids' film The Awful End (due to start shooting any day now), he's clearly a favourite at Warner Bros, who are giving him a punt at this ambitious film. Lawrence will be overseeing a rewrite of the script over the next few months, with filming due to start sometime next year. Once again, our fingers are crossed that this classic will finally make it to the screen.