It is no secret that inventive visions can encourage bitter battles in Hollywood. The film business is a enterprise, and executives do not wish to make blockbusters which might be going to repel audiences… however typically repellent materials is important in storytelling, and filmmakers will typically go to the mat defending hardcore parts of their work. That being stated, I’ve by no means heard a behind-the-scenes story fairly like what occurred when Will Smith and author/producer Akiva Goldsman pitched what’s arguably essentially the most devastating second within the 2007 sci-fi thriller I Am Legend.
Those that have seen the movie will do not forget that Will Smith’s Neville has a canine companion named Sam for a lot of the film, however their story collectively ends tragically when Sam is bitten and contaminated with the virus that successfully killed the world. As recounted in an interview in The Hollywood Reporter, Smith and Goldsman wanted to get the inexperienced gentle from then-Warner Bros. President Alan Horn to incorporate a scene the place Neville euthanizes Sam, and it was a scene so painful that it is comical looking back. Smith remembers:
We needed to pitch it to the studio. We went to go discuss to Alan Horn, who was the pinnacle of Warner Bros. on the time. We stroll in and — nearly like from a sitcom — Alan Horn has 4 large footage of essentially the most beautiful German Shepherds behind his desk. He loves canines. And he’s telling us the story that he simply misplaced one among his German Shepherds. We’re like, ‘Oh no. Oh no.’ Akiva says, ‘Alan, Will has one thing he needs to pitch you.’
That, people, is a few knowledgeable stage “throwing beneath the bus” proper there. It is so tough that you just nearly should applaud Akiva Goldsman for the audacity of the maneuver.
You are going to be shocked by this half: Alan Horn did not have the very best response to the pitch. In response to Will Smith, he started weeping whereas holding one of many images of his deceased pet. All appeared misplaced, as Horn did not suppose mass audiences would settle for a sequence in a sci-fi/horror blockbuster the place one of many largest stars on this planet kills a canine. The actor was evidently at a loss when it comes to a comeback, however following the entire “throwing beneath the bus” factor, Goldsman stepped in to save lots of the day:
And Alan Horn is in tears, he’s crying, holding an image of his German Shepherd and he says, ‘Guys, I promise you, your lead actor can not choke a canine to dying in an American film.’ That looks like a good evaluation! However Akiva stated ‘stage play.’ And what occurs within the shot is you simply pan off, and the entire scene is simply performed on my face. You hear the sound of the paws, the nails scratching on the ground till they decelerate and cease. It’s tremendous painful, however the viewers doesn’t should undergo it. … [Akiva] figures out the right way to discover that candy spot within the center artistically and creatively that lands the thought with out destroying the viewers with it.
In the end, I Am Legend acquired a combined/optimistic response from critics, with the scene of Neville saying goodbye to Sam being one of many movie’s strongest moments – and it may be stated that it most undoubtedly did not postpone/scare away audiences. It was not a reasonable film to make, with a pre-marketing/publicity price ticket of $150 million per Field Workplace Mojo, but it surely made $585 million by the top of its theatrical run all over the world.
The movie was so profitable that talks about an I Am Legend 2 have persevered for years – with the latest replace having come this previous April when Will Smith confirmed the involvement of Michael B. Jordan as a part of the solid and defined his function within the movie’s plot – denying rumors that he was going to play a youthful model of Neville in a prequel. I Am Legend 2 will probably be making a daring transfer with its narrative, as whereas the theatrical model of I Am Legend ended with Neville dying, the sequel will acknowledge the blockbuster’s alternate ending as canon.
Will the sequel embody an emotionally daring scene as highly effective because the dying of Sam that can require Will Smith and Akiva Goldsman to make a particular pitch to David Zaslav? Time will inform.