The disastrous performance of Joker 2 may have had an unintended consequence: I Am Legend 2, Will Smith’s long-awaited sequel, is reportedly dead.
You don’t need to be an expert to know that Joker 2’s box office and critical reception haven’t gone to plan. The sequel to the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, and an Oscar-winner, should have been a sure thing.
Instead, people hate it. It has a 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes (plus a 31% audience rating), and its domestic opening weekend came in under The Marvels, The Flash, and even Morbius.
In other words, don’t expect Joker 3 anytime soon (and not just because Joker 2’s ending makes that pretty much impossible), and other projects may have suffered from its failure, too.
According to EmpireCity Box Office, Joker 2’s underperformance “has basically killed off I Am Legend 2.”
Hearing that @jokermovie 2's horrible performance has basically killed off I AM LEGEND 2, so not shocked to see Will Smith announce his next project this morning with Michael Bay to slum around and waste time at Netflix. Disappointing.
— EmpireCity Box Office (@EmpireCityBO) October 7, 2024
This also comes after Will Smith’s next project was announced: a reunion with Michael Bay for a new Netflix action movie.
What’s the connection between the two films, I hear you ask? “Same studio. I Am Legend 2 was going to be expensive and risky with Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan,” the account claimed.
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Now, this may not be true. I Am Legend 2 falls under Warner Bros, but it’ll have other companies and financiers attached, so don’t write it off just yet.
Smith’s sequel was officially announced in 2022, with Michael B. Jordan set to star alongside him. Updates have been few and far between, but if it gets made, we know it’ll take place after the original film’s alternate ending (the one where Robert Neville doesn’t die).
In June this year, Jordan said the script was still “getting up to par… it doesn’t have a release date or anything like that.”
“I’m not sure exactly where we’re going to be filming that one, but I’m really excited to get in front of the camera with [Smith],” he added.
Find out why this is the worst scene in Joker 2, and why people think Joker 2 is so bad. You can also check out our list of movies like Joker, as well as our breakdown of new movies to watch this month.