He will survive...again. Probably to the chagrin of any movies aiming to open on Independence Day.
Warner Bros. is ramping up development on a prequel to the 2007 smash I Am Legend, which will see Will Smith reprising his role as one of the lone survivors on a zombified Earth.
Director Francis Lawrence is expected to take the reins again in the story of how New Yorkers came to be stricken by a deadly plague that turned them into nocturnal, blood-sucking creatures.
I Am Legend raked in $256 million domestically but [spoiler alert!] didn't really set up a Smith-starring sequel, prompting studio executives to start brainstorming other ways to keep the lucre flowing.
Meanwhile, in other Hollywood wheeling and dealing:
- Anne Hathaway is set to topline 20th Century Fox's The Opposite of Love as a commitment-shy attorney whose life falls apart when she turns down a marriage propopsal from her boyfriend.
- Rachel McAdams will be testing her wits opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes reboot for Warner. Bros. She plays Irene Adler, Holmes' enigmatic love interest. Jude Law plays Holmes' wingman, Watson.
- John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Myers are set to costar in From Paris With Love, about a young Paris-based embassy employee who encounters an American spy on a risky mission. Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) cowrote the script. Cameras are already rolling in France.
- Per the Hollywood Reporter, DreamWorks has snagged the film rights to the late John Wyndham's sci-fi tome Chocky, as a potential directing vehicle for Steven Spielberg. The novel explores the darker side of childhood, telling the tale of a father who becomes distressed when his son constantly argues with an imaginary friend. He soon suspects that an alien consciousness has taken over the boy's mind.
- Fresh off his 18th B-day last month, budding comic Bo Burnham is in talks with Universal to not only star in but also write and create the music for a comedy to be produced by Judd Apatow poking fun at the High School Musical fad. Burnham made a name for himself online via MySpace, YouTube and CollegeHumor.com and caught Apatow's attention as Montreal's Just for Laughs comedyfest.
- It's a Muppets all-star lineup! Uma Thurman, Jane Krakowski, Nathan Lane, Jesse L. Martin, Paul Williams, supermodel Petra Nemcova, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have signed on to the cast of NBC's A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa. They'll join previously announced stars Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Griffiths, Tony Sirico, Steve Schirripa and Madison Pettis in the one-hour song-and-dance special, which follows Kermit and crew as they make their way to Santa in the North Pole to save Christmas. It airs Dec. 17.
- Ralph Macchio is set to guest star on the Oct. 30 episode of ABC's Ugly Betty. The erstwhile Karate Kid will play a city official named Archie Rodriguez.
- Reveille, the production house behind NBC's The Office, is partnering with Geffen Records to develop a modern-day take on The Partridge Family. The show is being envisioned as a tongue-in-cheek update of the musical family act. C'mon, everyone get happy