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Thursday
09Jul2009

Will Smith Sets Sail with 'I Am Legend' Director

DateThursday, July 9, 2009 at 5:02AM
Even though they're supposed to be working on a prequel to I Am Legend, the director Francis Lawrence and Will Smith have signed up to collaborate on City That Sailed, and from the write-up in Variety, it sounds like a short story more than a movie.

A father (Smith) and his daughter (probably his daughter) are separated by the Atlantic Ocean, but their love for each other and desire to be together breaks Manhattan off of the North American continent and sets the most populated slice of land in the United States floating across the ocean.

See? Good for about six pages, but how can you make that last 90 minutes to two hours? That's the power of Will Smith, or that's the presumption. I mean, I guess if they play it right, it could be a great little fantasy, but that's easier said than done.

To that end, the original version of the script was written by Andrew Niccol, who also wrote The Truman Show. There's a lot of that high concept in City That Sailed. Brian Koppleman and David Levien (Ocean's 13) will handle rewrite duties.

I guess the hole in this for me is what happens when Manhattan drifts off into the Atlantic? The beginning and end I'm pretty solid on, I think. Because it's such a personal story you don't want it crawling with supporting players, but without their assistance, it could be awfully boring watching Smith sailing for a couple of hours, no matter how effortlessly he commands the screen.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment1 Comment |

Reader Comments (1)

I guess they could spend 30 to 40 minutes lingering on all the bridges and tunnels collapsing in dramatic fashion in all their CGI glory?

Thursday, July 9, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMRPigg

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