Michael B. Jordan's 'I Am Legend 2' Could Be Linked To Will Smith's Alternate Ending

Will Smith's "I Am Legend" ended with a self-sacrifice that seemingly closed all doors for a sequel. But producer and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman revealed that the upcoming sequel will be based on the unaired alternate ending in which Smith's character lives.

The 60-year-old filmmaker signed a multi-year deal with Warner Bros., which included a sequel to the 2007 post-apocalyptic action thriller that grossed $585 million worldwide, according to Deadline.

Goldsman told the outlet that the "I Am Legend" sequel, which will star both Smith and Michael B. Jordan, will have a huge time jump, picking up "a few decades later than the first."

"I'm obsessed with 'The Last of Us,' where we see the world just post-apocalypse but also after a 20-30-year lapse. 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? That will be especially visual in New York. I don't know if they'll climb up to the empire state building, but the possibilities are endless," Goldsman added.

He also revealed that "I Am Legend 2" will "trace back" to the 1954 Richard Matheson novel the first movie was based on as well as 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," the filmmaker concluded.

"I Am Legend" ended with Dr. Robert Neville (Smith) sacrificing his life to save humanity, according to Cinemablend. Before dying, he left the cure to the plague that ravaged the world to his fellow survivors, Ethan (Charlie Tahan) and Anna (Alice Braga).

But the alternate ending, which was cut from the original film and was later released on a special 2008 DVD, paved the way for Jordan's sequel to be possible.

The unreleased ending showed that Dr. Neville survived the plague and returned his female test subject to her mate, who has been longing for his beloved. Dr. Neville, Ethan and Anna are seen leaving New York City toward the end of the scene. But it left fans wondering if Smith's character actually formulated a cure.

Cinemablend suggested that the possibility of the cure never existing could allow Jordan's character to exist in a world without a cure and to explore a world that is still threatened by the Krippen Virus.

Goldsman, however, did not say how Jordan fits into the storyline of the upcoming sequel.

Warner Bros. Pictures announced that Smith, 54, will be appearing in the "I Am Legend" sequel alongside Jordan in March last year. Goldsman, who adapted the Matheson novel for the original 2007 movie, is returning to pen the follow-up and produce as well.

No director is attached to the project yet. Francis Lawrence directed the original "I Am Legend."

Further information about the sequel has been kept under wraps, and a release date has yet to be revealed.