From a doomed Arnold Schwarzenegger/Ridley Scott collaboration to Will Smith's blockbuster hit, the journey of I Am Legend to the screen is as dramatic as the apocalypse it depicts.

Three wildly different film adaptations, a legendary unmade version; this story of humanity's end keeps haunting Hollywood.

This is not the first adaptation of Richard Matheson's book I Am Legend. Vincent Price battled zombie-vampires in 1964's stark black-and-white thriller The Last Man on Earth. Charlton Heston faced off against intelligent albino mutants called "the Family" in 1971's, The Omega Man. Each adaptation changed the creatures, the cause of the apocalypse, and crucially, gave audiences hope where the book offered none.

With only 16 weeks of prep time, the Will Smith/Francis Lawrence version, this time named I Am Legend, spent years in development hell, and quickly went from a 40-page outline to a greenlit blockbuster, and to say it was chaotic is an understatement. Whole New York City blocks were closed off for filming, and one scene on the Brooklyn Bridge cost $5 million for just six nights of filming. One week into filming, director Francis Lawrence panicked and switched from practical makeup effects to CGI, extending post-production and inflating the budget. The team was still seeing finished visual effects shots just one month before the film's release, leading to last-minute reshoots to adjust the controversial ending.

I Am Legend offers a unique blend of action and deep emotional storytelling, highlighting human isolation and the struggle for survival, with one of the bestest canine companions in film. Will Smith's performance as Dr. Robert Neville is both captivating and heartbreaking, showcasing his character's descent into loneliness, and the eerie depiction of an empty New York City resonates deeply in today's world, reflecting on themes of loss and solitude in a pandemic context.

The Amalgamated Dynamics Ridley Scott version makeup tests are here

I would love to hear your thoughts on I Am Legend (2007) !

Verbal Diorama is now an award-winning podcast! Best Movie Podcast in the inaugural Ear Worthy Independent Podcast Awards and was nominated for the Earworm Award at the 2025 Golden Lobes.

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Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em | This podcast is hosted by Captivate, try it yourself for free.

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