Compared to the two works "Transformers" and "007 vs. Casino Royale", "I Am a Legend" is relatively simple, because it is a work and there is no sequel, at least in the future time that Lance knows. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The birth of the "I Am Legend" project has some connection with Lance, because it is also a post-apocalyptic work, the story is about the world after the terrorist virus attack, only one scientist escaped, everyone else became the living dead, devouring life for a living, and the scientist must find a solution to the virus.

In the 90s, disasters, apocalyptics and other genres were once very popular, creating masterpieces such as "Independence Day", "Tornado", and "Peerless Apocalypse", including "Titanic" and "Future Water World". Therefore, Warner Bros. originally planned to put "I Am a Legend" on the big screen for the third time, but unfortunately after missing the opportunity, the genre fell into a trough, and the box office performance was always unsatisfactory, and the investment and return could not be proportional. Until the resurgence of "The Day After Tomorrow", this work swept the global box office of 700 million, making the post-apocalyptic movie shine again. As a result, Warner Bros. brought the "I Am Legend" project, which had been in the dust for many years, to the table again.

In the previous life, "I Am Legend" attracted a lot of attention at the beginning of filming, and Will Smith, known as the "Emperor of History", took over the banner of the actor, although the actor in the original book was a white man, and the previous two versions and Warner Bros. chose to be white when they were first conceived, but Will, as the most box office appeal black actor today, supported a world of black actors with Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington, and Warner Bros.'s casting was unanimously recognized by the market.

After the release of the movie, it also lived up to expectations, although the media was not enthusiastic about it, but the 65-point media comprehensive evaluation also crossed the passing line, and professional film critics especially affirmed the excavation of human nature and Will's performance; In contrast, the feedback from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb is much more forgiving, with most of the ratings above 70 points, which also creates the conditions for the film to achieve box office success.

In the end, "I Am Legend" achieved a box office of 256 million in North America, becoming Will's highest-grossing work in 11 years, second only to "Independence Day"; At the same time, the film also earned 328 million at the overseas box office, bringing the global box office to 585 million, successfully achieving a profit for Warner Bros.

In addition, the outstanding performance of this work also made Will break Tom Cruise's previous record of five consecutive works with a box office of over 100 million, since 2002's "Men in Black 2", six consecutive works have grossed over 100 million, truly taking over Tom's mantle and becoming the king of the new generation of box office.

Objectively speaking, the word-of-mouth and box office results of "I Am a Legend" are not as good as "007 vs. Casino Royale", and the box office data is even worse than that of "Transformers", but measuring the value of a work is far from being so simple.

In the previous life, the biggest publicity highlight of "I Am Legend" was Will, and the whole movie could almost be said to be his one-man show, so Warner Bros. avoided Will's edge when choosing the director and chose Francis-Lawrence (Frances-Lawrence) to take over.

Francis can be said to be a newcomer in the industry, an assistant director, and got the opportunity to direct "Detective Hell", and took over the directorship. However, this adaptation of the comic "Constantine", as Francis's debut novel, had a mediocre box office performance and a mediocre media reputation, which attracted more fans of the original comics and did not create further topics. "I Am Legend" is just his second work.

In this case, the center of gravity of the entire script is tilted towards Will, which directly leads to two results: the rhythm of the work is unbalanced, and the script structure is unbalanced. It can be seen from the comments of the professional media that Will's performance has been well received, but it has dragged down the commercial attributes of the film and restricted the further explosion of the box office.

In addition, after many years in the industry, Francis was still active in the field of TV dramas, and later took charge of the last three installments of the "Hunger Games" series. It can be seen that the style of Francis's works is slow and dark, and the rhythm is easy to get out of control, which is precisely a disadvantage for commercial films.

The media comprehensive evaluation of "I am a legend" scored 65 points, reaching a passing grade, but it is far from excellent.

If the script structure is readjusted and the narrative rhythm is readjusted, it is not impossible for "I Am a Legend" to regain its vitality and achieve a breakthrough at the box office.

Barry listed Lance as the number one choice for "I'm a legend", presumably for that reason.

As an actor, Lance has no appeal at all, so naturally he can't be compared with Will, but Lance's excellent acting skills complement the core content of the movie, and his personal charm also gives people more reason to believe that he has the potential to become a superstar; As a director and screenwriter, Lance's rhythm control, scene control and plot polish are all highly recognized, and Lance writes, directs and acts, and the control of the overall structure is bound to be arbitrary, which is not only not easy to make mistakes, but also increases the possibility of brilliance.

What's more, Lance wears many hats at the same time, for a film like "I Am a Legend" that "only needs one actor", it is undoubtedly a good thing for cost control, and the box office pressure has also been invisibly alleviated, although Chaos Pictures is bound to strive for more benefits in terms of box office dividends, but this also means that Warner Bros. shares the risk.

However, Lance thought differently. Barry chose such an interesting time to put the "I Am Legend" project in front of him early, and it was definitely not that simple.

Lance couldn't help but think of the "Superman Returns" that was being filmed.

Now, "Batman Prequel: The Mystery of the Shadows" has been a success, and if "Superman Returns" is also successful, then the DC universe that Lance originally conceived is no longer a flower in the mirror, and it is completely possible. As Hollywood's most daring investment company, Warner Bros. has a plan in mind: What if Lance's idea is really possible? What if Lance's composition could really allow Warner Bros. to grow into an empire? What if Reims's great work really changed the direction of the industry?

At this time, it is obviously impossible and unnecessary to call Lance back to the "Superman Returns" crew. So Warner Bros. changed his mind - "I am a legend".

"I Am Legend" is a very special work, it is based on the script of the novel, but also constructs an independent worldview of the destruction of the earth, and then all the pen and ink are focused on the male protagonist, and this one character guides the development of all the storylines, with the ultimate goal of saving the world.

All of them are so familiar - isn't that true of every superhero comic?

Warner Bros. could give Lance full authority to "I Am Legend", let Lance build the whole world, and then put it into action to see how talented Lance really was, and how feasible the original proposal was. In this way, it not only avoids the differences between the two sides over the DC Universe, but also achieves the purpose of Warner Bros. What's more, the budget for "I Am a Legend" is 150 million, which is far more cost-effective than the "Superman Returns" project, and even if Lance messes up, Warner Bros. can control the damage - and it will not affect the entire DC universe; But if Lance succeeds, then the two sides can sit down at the negotiating table and restart the meeting in the DC Universe.

And that's what Barry revealed in a brief conversation on the phone.

Of course, it is also possible that all of this was Lance's own crankiness, or that Barry wanted Lance to think this way, just as Lance tried to mislead Barry with the "Da Vinci Code" novel. However, Lance had to think about such a possibility.

If that's really the case, if "I'm a Legend" really succeeds, if the DC Universe really reboots, then how should he choose?

The development of Chaos Pictures will be like riding a rocket, but it is also equivalent to tying yourself to the chariot of Warner Bros., once Warner Bros. interrupts the cooperation, Chaos Pictures will enter a period of pain, such as the legendary pictures in the previous life; Choosing the Marvel Universe means that the future is long, not to mention the financial problems that need to be faced in the future production of every work, and even the completion of the acquisition is extremely difficult, Chaos Pictures is like dancing at the tip of a knife, I don't know when it will pierce the heart, but once it succeeds, then Chaos Pictures will soar into the sky and have the qualifications to compete with any of the other six major film companies.

So, how should you choose?

Lance knew that if he was really faced with such a choice, he would choose Marvel. Either soar or lose, only the truly brave and bold can win the game on Wall Street, and if you want to rely on others or uphold the golden mean, it is absolutely impossible to have the last laugh.

But the problem is that these are just his fantasies. The reality is the most cruel, maybe they can't buy Marvel, maybe Warner Bros. doesn't have the idea of taking Chaos Pictures to play together, maybe "I Am Legend" is completely a simple project...... Therefore, instead of thinking about those illusory potential possibilities, it is better to keep your eyes on the present, step by step, take a solid step forward, and walk out of the splendid road by yourself.

So, the question is back to square one, is "I Am a Legend" worth filming?

With "007 vs. Casino Royale" on one side and "I'm a legend" on the other, should he make a choice? Or should it be ...... While thinking, Lance slowly retracted his left hand, turned his palm into a fist, and felt the strength in his muscles; Then his eyes fell on his right hand, his fingertips slowly retracted, and then he exerted his strength little by little, and the surging strength made the whole person tense, and the blood was ready to move in the body, which made people impatient. (To be continued.) )