I Am Legend Coming Next Month

Will Smith is in another sci-fi novel adaptation, this time I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, which has been adapted twice before. Apparently, a four writer team undertook this adaptation. Either that or two writers adapted a previous two-writer adaptation. Matheson has many stories in the public mind, in part because he worked on The Twilight Zone, in part because authors like Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz have praised his work highly. Another adaptation from him, one of a script seen on The Twilight Zone, is coming in the movie The Box. Still another in The Incredible Shrinking Man.

From what I understand of the story, I Am Legend can’t be called a vampire tale, though there are vampires in it. It’s better described as a post-apocalypse story, focusing on a man as a representative of all mankind. Speaking of the Matheson’s book, Dan Schneider says it focuses “on human loneliness. . . Its insights into what it is to be human go far beyond genre.” (Spoiler warning on that link.) It could be a good movie. Probably is a good book.

12 thoughts on “I Am Legend Coming Next Month”

  1. I’m not sure I want to clarify our conversation to the point of actually quoting the words, heh, heh, but if you are referring to a four word movie title, then that’s the title alright. Perhaps you are thinking of another kind of, um, shrinking. In which case, I’m shocked–shocked.

  2. Phil, I think I am Legend is a remake of the old Charlton Heston movie The Omega Man, which was the adaptation of I am Legend. I’m looking forward to the Will Smith version, but I think Mel Gibson is the best choice for the role.

  3. Yes, it is, but from what I read, the novel was adapted first in the Vincent Price film, The Last Man on Earth. I read some fans saying that was a good film, and the Heston version barely resembled the book.

  4. I was merely responding to what I saw before me. If I must clarify a bit further, I thought, perhaps, you meant to say public mind. If indeed you meant to say what you did, well, anyway, regardless, this is my last comment on the subject.

  5. Oh. Oops. Well, I for one am shocked–shocked at this gaffe and will take it to the highest authority to see it never happens again.

    I deeply apologize to all readers who may or may not have seen the mistake. Any further complaint on this matter should be taken up with our blog ombudsman, Lars.

  6. “The Last Man on Earth” is indeed a good film. It is a small film, very much about the shrinking world of the last human on earth.

  7. “The Last Man on Earth” is very good. In fact, it’s the only Vincent Price movie (that I’ve seen) that has impressed me.

    Matheson was an excellent writer. I would avoid his later work, but other stories are worth investigating: _7 Steps to Midnight_ is a fine suspense novel, and “Born of Man and Woman” is a classic horror story.

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