Sci-Fi Updates: I Am Legend & The Fountain

Wait a minute, didn't both of these movies come out already? Well, only in Hollywood are supposedly "finished" properties ever able to come back to life. First off, we have more news on the I Am Legend prequel/sequel. Collider talked to star Will Smith about the project at a recent press day for the upcoming Seven Pounds, and the actor was able to give us some more details on the rumors. Turns out it is in fact a prequel, and would revolve around a group of survivors having to make a trek to Washington, D.C. from New York, and then head back to New York in an effort to defend the last city. I'm still not sure how to feel about this project, but I did really dig the original remake (that sounds funny), so I'm open to see what they can do for a follow-up.

As for The Fountain, Darren Aronofsky talked to MTV recently about releasing a reassembled version of the film. Though it tanked at the box office, the film went on to find a cult following on DVD and Blu-Ray (where it looks GAW-GEOUS). The story behind how the movie got made is actually an intriguing one. Aronofsky had planned a much bigger version of the movie than the one that finally ended up on screen. It was originally set to star Brad Pitt (how Aronofsky courted Pitt was an interesting tale in itself. Just know it involved a private screening of Requiem For A Dream and a soul-searching walk down Santa Monica Blvd.) before he left the picture to appear in Wolfgang Petersen's Troy, effectively killing the project. The sets were dismantled and auctioned off, the crew was let go, and everything about Aronofsky's passion project seemed dead in the water. But unable to let the dream go, Aronofsky eventually rewrote it, turning it into a much smaller film that became the version we've come to know and love. And to give his original vision a just farewell, Aronofsky also released a graphic novel version that adhered more closely to his original script. Now, though, it looks like he's planning for another interpretation of his film. According to MTV:

“It wouldn’t be a ‘director’s cut,’” he said — more like an alternate story told with the addition of unused footage from the first go-round. This would be a complicated project on a couple of levels, though, and it’s at least a few years away.

That sounds interesting as hell. I'm not ashamed to admit that I loved the hell out of the film, and I'm more than interested in the prospect of "unused footage," especially if there's enough of it to tell another chunk of story we haven't seen yet. No word on how this would relate, if at all, to the Criterion Collection version of the DVD that's been rumored. So some interesting rumblings today from old projects. What do you guys think? Do we need another I Am Legend movie? Or how about another version of The Fountain?