I Am Legend

I finally finsihed it!!!

:D

It's good, too! The pace is a lot like the original HALLOWEEN... The first 3/4s of the story movies at a slow -- but building -- pace, primarily keeping alive this tense sense of dread. Then the last quarter of it sort of explodes into stuff happening, and when it's over you're left with this sense of having really, thoroughly lived in this world!

Also (and seperately, really) I can TOTALLY see why so many people have called this the ultimate vampire novel! (I won't spoil it, though. I highly recommend you find out for yourself.)

Also, I looked up the upcoming movie adaptation and got some scoop:

It will be written by Akiva Goldsman who did (I think) a SPECTACULAR job adapting THE DA VINCI CODE, I, ROBOT and A BEAUTIFUL MIND. And although I haven't seen it, I've great great things about his script CINDERELLA MAN.

Also, it looks like he may incorporate some of Mark Protosevich's script, which I'm about half-way finished with and it's really cool so far!!! (He's got some interesting solutions for the structure problem of going from a novel to the Big Screen!)

WILL SMITH is set to play Robert Neville!!!

The only possible problem I forsee (and this is THE big one) is that it's directed by Francis Lawrence, whose only non-music-video credit to date is CONSTANTINE... which puit me to sleep. Visually very pretty, but he didn't make me FEEL the story. It was just a lot of pretty stuff happening. (Like X-MEN: THE LAST STAND in many ways.)

I've seen too many scripts ruined by a director who doesn't GET story... So I'm scared that Smith's and Goldsman's work may be for naught :(

But we'll see. I'll be there opening weekend if I have the money!