I Am Legend
The last man on Earth is not alone.
I Am Legend (2007)
Production
Budget
$150 000 000
Revenue
$585 349 010
Director
Scenario
Richard Matheson
Author
Composer
Producer
Actors
Will Smith
Robert Neville
Alice Braga
Anna Montez
Abbey
Samantha (Sam)
Charlie Tahan
Ethan
Dash Mihok
Alpha Male
Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Zoe Neville
Willow Smith
Marley Neville
Emma Thompson
Dr. Alice Krippin
Short description
A man-made virus has wiped out most of humanity and turned the rest into night-dwelling creatures that cannot bear sunlight. Robert Neville, a scientist who was unable to halt the outbreak, is immune and lives alone in a largely abandoned New York City. By day he searches the empty streets, sends out radio messages in the hope that other survivors are listening, and works on a serum from his own blood. By night he barricades himself indoors while the infected roam outside. The film is based on Richard Matheson's novel and was directed by Francis Lawrence.
Will Smith plays Neville, with Alice Braga as Anna Montez, Charlie Tahan as Ethan, and Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Zoe Neville. The screenplay is credited to Akiva Goldsman, Mark Protosevich and Matheson, and Goldsman produced alongside David Heyman and Neal H. Moritz.
The film followed Lawrence's 2005 debut Constantine and came before Water for Elephants, the Hunger Games sequels, Red Sparrow, Slumberland and later features. Made for about 150 million USD, it took roughly 585 million USD worldwide. Audiences rate it 7.2 on IMDb and 7.2 on TMDB, while critics gave it 6.5.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on Richard Matheson's novel "I Am Legend" (1954).
- This is already the third adaptation of Richard Matheson's book. The first was "The Last Man on Earth" (1964), the second — "The Omega Man" (1971).
- The project could have materialized back in the 90s: Arnold Schwarzenegger was then considered for the lead role, and Ridley Scott was to direct. However, after the estimated budget soared to incredible proportions, both preferred to pursue other promising projects.
- Will Smith interrupted filming for a couple of days to attend the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, which took place in Rome.
- Over a thousand extras and a large amount of various military equipment were involved in filming the scenes on the Brooklyn Bridge. The filming of these scenes lasted six days, during which the studio spent approximately $5 million.
- Will Smith’s first choice for director was Guillermo del Toro, but the latter declined the offer to head the blockbuster shoot. Ultimately, Francis Lawrence became the director of the film.
- On the wall of one of the buildings, you can see a poster – the Superman symbol against the backdrop of the Batman symbol.
- Filming took place from September 23, 2006, to March 31, 2007, in New York.
- There is an alternate ending to the film, some footage from which appeared in early trailers.
- Since it was impossible to film on a busy square, the filmmakers shot Will Smith in a studio against a blue screen. There were no sets, except for a small ticket booth and grass carpeting laid on the studio floor. Using a laser scanner, Imageworks recreated Times Square as a three-dimensional model, projecting photographs and matte-painted sets onto this grid.
- Throughout the film, Will Smith sings Bob Marley's song — "Three Little Birds." He also sang it for his character in the animated film "Shark Tale" (2004). He hums Bob Marley's song — "I Shot the Sheriff" — to Anne, who saved him.
- When Robert Neville (Will Smith) is attacked by zombies, he jumps from the same bridge that his character Agent J jumped from in "Men in Black".
- Will Smith, the lead actor, liked Abby, the dog who played alongside him, so much that when filming wrapped, he tried to adopt her. However, the dog trainer refused to part with her.
- When Will Smith's character sees a mannequin on the street, which he calls Fred, it appears as though the mannequin almost imperceptibly turns its head. This was actually the case during filming, and the mannequin was played by a mime.
- While preparing for the filming period, director Francis Lawrence watched Roman Polanski’s biographical drama 'The Pianist' (2002) on television with the sound off (as his child was sleeping nearby), and the effect of the silence against which the film’s action unfolded made a huge impression on him. It was after this that Lawrence made resonant silence and quiet, infrequent sounds a part of his film.
- Preparing for the role, Will Smith spoke with former prisoners, trying to understand what perfect solitude feels like.
- The sounds and screams of the infected were made by multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and actor Mike Patton, vocalist of Faith No More, Fantomas, and Mr. Bungle, who remained off-screen.
- Some of the mannequins in the video store were played by real people. If you look closely, you can notice that they move.
- The paintings in the main character's house were provided by a New York museum of modern art. Apparently, the character played by Will Smith simply 'borrowed' them.
- The animal trainer involved in the film found Abby at a dog shelter. She looked the way the filmmakers needed, but she had never been trained before. The trainer had only a few weeks to teach the animal to perform the necessary commands.
- Before filming began, Will Smith regularly spent some time with Abby. This was done to allow the person and the animal to get used to each other's company.
- Initially, it was planned that the infected would be played by real extras with appropriate makeup, but this idea had to be abandoned, and the infected characters were created using computer technology.
- In one of the film's episodes, a poster for the film "Lucky Number Slevin" (2007), which was also created at Warner Bros. Studios, can be noticed.
- Producer Akiva Goldsman decided to move the film's setting from Los Angeles to New York to further enhance the feeling of emptiness, as he put it, "New York is never empty..."
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
