Weeks after its premiere on HBO, The Last of Us has been garnering millions of fans, and among them would be screenwriter Akiva Goldsman. As someone who's no stranger to delving into post-apocalyptic worlds, Goldsman had notably co-written the screenplay to 2007's I Am Legend. He will be back to pen the previously-announced sequel, I Am Legend 2, with Francis Lawrence also set to return to the director's chair.
In a new interview with Deadline, Goldsman touched on how things are going with I Am Legend 2. The screenwriter isn't sharing any specific details, such as how Michael B. Jordan will be brought into the story to co-star with returning star Will Smith, but he does confirm that the sequel follows the alternate ending to the original movie. Goldsman also says he's been watching The Last of Us to take inspiration for fleshing out the post-apocalyptic world that will be further explored in I Am Legend 2. This is partly because the sequel goes much further into this world, which would make it look more like something seen in The Last of Us.
“This will start 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 also teases how more inspiration for the sequel comes straight from the original I Am Legend book by Richard Matheson.
"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.”
Akiva Goldsman Isn't the Only One Enjoying The Last of Us
The Last of Us has been an instant hit for HBO. In addition to garnering high viewership on HBO, the show has been a hit on streaming with HBO Max. Recently released Nielsen numbers have revealed that the show logged 223 million minutes streamed by U.S. subscribers within the first three hours of the series premiere's release. Additionally, the show has pulled in widespread praise from viewers and critics, and it wasn't a surprise when it was announced that The Last of Us had been renewed for a second season.
You can stream The Last of Us on HBO Max. New episodes are released every Sunday.