by Ian Whates

Whilst a considerable success at the box office, many people appear to have been disappointed by the recent third cinematic adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic science fiction novel, I Am Legend (1954). The film was perhaps not helped by extensive reshoots, demanded after the movie was theoretically completed. These include a very different ending from the one originally intended.

In December, just prior to the film’s US release, director Francis Lawrence was quoted as saying, “I don't want to actually discuss the ending, just because I don't want; I want people to make up their own minds, but maybe there'll be an alternate version at some point."

And lo and behold, the DVD version of the film, due for release over here in April, does include amongst the ‘extras’ the original ending (which is already available on the internet, for the impatient and the curious). The strange thing is, this ending seems far more powerful and poignant than the one the cinema release was saddled with. It’s still very different from anything Richard Matheson wrote, but it does have some of the feel of the book and provides a possible explanation as to why Will Smith’s character, Robert Neville, may have been seen as a ‘legend’, something which probably puzzled movie-goers.

So why the reshoot and the switch? No one’s saying, but it seems to revolve around the perception of Warner Brothers as to what the American public would and would not accept. As ever, money talks.