26 years afterI Am Legendcame to theaters, asequel is finally in the workswithAkiva Goldsmanback in the writer’s room,Will Smithis reprising his role as Robert Neville, andMichael B. Jordanis set as his co-star. Although Smith is the only previous cast member confirmed to be a part of the follow-up, word of the announcement earlier this year quickly reached the ear of his old fellow survivorAlice Braga. Collider’s ownSteve Weintraubgot to sit down with her for theBen Affleck-ledHypnotic, they naturally got to the topic of Goldsman and the sequel. Not only is she beyond excited for a sequel to the 2007 classic, but she’d be eager to reunite with Goldsman and Smith if given the chance.
Braga shows up inI Am Legendas Anna, a survivor who traveled from Maryland with a young Ethan (Charlie Tahan) when she heard Neville’s broadcasts and realized there was someone still out there surviving on their own. She tells Neville of the survivor’s camp in Vermont, offering a glimmer of hope for humanity, especially with Neville’s search for a cure. While Neville sacrifices himself to protect the cure in the ending audiences saw in theaters, Goldsman’s sequelwill be more accurate toRichard Matheson’s bookand follow the alternate ending where Neville abandons his research and heads to Vermont with Anna and Ethan. Citing HBO’sThe Last of Us, Goldsman wants to the world ofI Am Legendafter decades have passed and nature has started to reclaim the world.
Braga was shocked when Goldsman’s plans for the sequel were unveiled, though she shared her desire to work with him again. She shares a special connection with the writer due toI Am Legendbeing her first American production and she was over the moon about a sequel to that project:
“How surprised? I was super surprised and very curious. I was almost jumping on the phone and saying, “Can I please be in it? Can I please be in it? Can I please be in it?” I’m a huge a Akiva fan, I think he’s such a wonderful writer, and he basically was the first writer that I got to see the [work part] close from coming to the US. It was my first American film, I was very excited to hear that they were continuing with the movie. I hope they do! I don’t know where they are with it, but I hope they do.”
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Braga Has Grown Significantly as an Actress SinceI Am Legend
Part of Braga’s desire to join the sequel comes from her own growth since then.I Am Legendgave way to a very fruitful career for the actress who went on to star inElysium,Predators, and, more recently,James Gunn’sThe Suicide Squadas well as the aforementionedHypnotic. She’s also attached toBrit MarlingandZal Batmanglij’s twisted new whodunit projectRetreatwhichshe detailed during the interview. When the possibility of getting the call for Goldsman’s sequel was proposed, she expressed both hope and excitement to show how far she’s come since that first trip to the post-apocalypse:
“I hope so! Because it was such a joy to work with them. And also, it’s interesting because I was 23 when I did the film. It’s been such a long time ago, and I did so much work afterward. I think I grew as an actress, as a woman, and as everything, so it would be nice to revisit that material, that team, to reunite with Akiva who is a screenwriter that I deeply admire.”
Goldsman’sI Am Legendsequel is still early on in development. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the film as work continues. In the meantime, check out the trailer forHypnoticbelow.
