Akiva Goldsman on the Strange Legacy of 'I Am Legend'

This week, we're joined by Akiva Goldsman, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of A Beautiful Mind. Goldsman is a truly eclectic writer with a number of major Hollywood achievements under his belt beyond that major crowdpleaser, from Batman and Robin to The Da Vinci Code. In late August, he joined artistic director Eric Kohn at the Playhouse to discuss one of the more fascinating chapters of his career: His 2007 adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend. The original post-apocalyptic book finds the sole survival of a world overrun by vampires gradually coming to terms with the end of the world.

It's a tense and at times quite frightening horror movie, but the version that came out in theaters two decades ago wasn't as bold as Goldsman originally intended it. At the Playhouse, we screened the "alternate cut" of the movie, the writer's preferred version. In a post-COVID world, I Am Legend resonates on a whole new level that deepens the material and makes it well worth a revisit -- especially this month, as Halloween season takes hold.  Goldsman spoke about the unique backstory of the project, his feelings about Will Smith, and the rather unique way they originally intended to release the movie.