'I Am Legend 2' with Will Smith, Michael B. Jordan, will follow an alternate ending, filmmaker says

Will Smith's 2007 film "I Am Legend," is getting a sequel with Michael B. Jordan joining the apocalyptic fight – and filmmaker Akiva Goldsman is sharing more about what fans can expect.

In an interview with Deadline published Wednesday, Goldsman would not divulge on Jordan's role in the film, but teased that the sequel will more closely follow the route of the book by Richard Matheson, which the original movie is based on.

"I Am Legend" was one of the top-grossing films in 2007, scoring nearly $77 million during opening weekend.

Here's what to know about the blockbuster film and the planned follow-up.

Did Will Smith die in 'I Am Legend?'

The original movie follows a plague that wipes out humanity and turns others into zombies. Smith's character, Dr. Robert Neville, is seemingly the only man alive and searches desperately for a cure.

In the end, Smith sacrifices himself after figuring out the cure but still saves humanity by handing it off to a fellow survivor, Anna (Alice Braga).

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'I Am Legend 2' will follow an alternate ending

The sequel, however, will follow the alternate ending that wasn't shown in theaters.

Though Smith's character dies at the conclusion of "I Am Legend," filmmakers gave viewers an alternate ending, which is somewhat happier, that can be found on DVD and on some streaming options. 

In the ending that wasn't included in the theatrical cut, the zombies leave Smith's Neville alone once he returns the body he was testing the cure on back to them. Smith, Anna and her son travel to Vermont to spread the cure.

Goldsman told Deadline that the sequel will start "a few decades" after the first film and lean into the alternate ending.

"I’m obsessed with 'The Last of Us,' where we see the world just post-apocalypse but also after a 20-30-year lapse," Goldsman said. "You see how the earth reclaims the world, and there’s something beautiful in the question of, as man steps away from being the primary tenant, what happens?"

He added: "We trace back to the original Matheson book, and the alternate ending as opposed to the released ending in the original film. What Matheson was talking about was that man’s time on the planet as the dominant species had come to an end. That’s a really interesting thing we’re going to get to explore. There will be a little more fidelity to the original text."

Fact check: The Will Smith movie ‘I Am Legend’ was set in 2012, not 2021

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'I am Legend 2', Will Smith and an alternate ending. We explain.