It seems sequelitis is just something Hollywood studios can’t shake these days. With I Am Legend continuing to rake in the bucks, and indeed boasting the highest December opening weekend in US cinematic history, you know it wouldn’t take long until there was some attempt to cash in on the concept even more. Appropriately, Richard Matheson, author of the novel the film is based on, has signed the rights to make a I am Legend sequel, according to Shock Till You Drop.

Movieweb are also reporting that writer Mark Protosevich is going to be involved in the sequel.  For those of you (which is most of you, I’ve been hearing) who were disappointed by I Am Legend‘s baffling portrayal of the “darkseekers” and by the film’s silly ending, this is porbably bad news. How can someone who was written films as silly as The Cell or as dull as Poseidon come up with anything satisfying?

It also seems highly unlikely that Will Smith will return as Dr Robert Neville. His story has been told, and the only place for him would be in some sort of prequel, detailing the virus that decimated humanity, and of the darkseekers that emerged. That said, such a prequel would have a rather dissatisfying ending. Face it Hollywood, you’ve ruined the I am Legend story with your superficial adaptation, can’t you just leave it alone?