February in New York was still very cold. Standing on the bank of the East River, Phyllis Beretta shivered as a gust of sea wind blew past. She instinctively tried to tuck as much of herself as possible into her clothes, but having just arrived from Los Angeles, her attire was too thin. Additionally, she had to hold up a poster supporting Matthew, so her actions were futile.
However, standing on this high ground and seeing Matthew filming by the riverbank made her feel less cold.
Wherever Matthew was, there was sunshine and warmth.
Phyllis Beretta, noticing that filming hadn't started yet, put away her poster and took out her camera. She aimed at the riverbank and continuously pressed the shutter, capturing many photos.
Because she had to save up for a plane ticket, she arrived in New York two days later than the crew, missing two days of Matthew's filming.
"They're about to start filming! They're about to start!" A crew member came over to remind loudly, "Please put away your cameras! Please put away your cameras! Thank you for your cooperation!"
Hearing this, Phyllis Beretta released the shutter and put her camera away. As a seasoned frontline fan, she knew that continuing to take photos would disrupt the crew's work.
All around, fans and entertainment reporters cooperated by putting away their cameras. She then saw Matthew and a girl with an exaggeratedly large chest sitting on a bench by the riverbank. The cameras on the track moved to face them, focusing on them.
The sea breeze blew, feeling a bit cold. Matthew seemed unaware, sitting motionless on the cold bench, staring blankly at the Brooklyn Bridge. Alexandra Daddario sat quietly beside him, not saying a word.
"I am Robert Neville, a survivor living in New York..."
A broadcast voice from not far away seemed never to stop, "I am broadcasting on all AM frequencies. I will be at the South Street Seaport at noon every day. If you hear this, anyone, I can provide food, shelter, and safety. If anyone hears this, anyone..."
Amid the broadcast, Matthew's face showed pain and sadness as he pointed to the Brooklyn Bridge and suddenly said, "Right here, I saw the helicopter carrying my wife and daughter crash, right before my eyes!"
Alexandra Daddario looked where he pointed, as if seeing the broken Brooklyn Bridge.
Matthew remained motionless until director Guillermo del Toro called cut.
With this take approved, all scenes by the East River were wrapped up. Guillermo del Toro shouted, "Now moving to Washington Square! We leave in twenty minutes."
Taking the coat handed by Bella Anderson, Matthew put it on and entered the warm trailer. Alexandra Daddario followed.
As a supporting actress with limited scenes, she couldn't enjoy the same treatment as Matthew.
"Sit anywhere, Anna." Matthew went to the coffee machine and poured Alexandra Daddario a cup of coffee. "Do you need milk?"
Alexandra Daddario shook her head, "No, thanks."
Matthew placed the magnetic coffee cup on the metal table in front of Alexandra Daddario and made himself a cup of tea. The slightly hot cup made his somewhat stiff hands feel better.
Maybe because that guy originally lived in Texas and later in Los Angeles, Matthew found himself a bit afraid of the cold. His tolerance for low temperatures was much lower than when he lived across the Pacific.
Initially, he had considered buying a luxury residence in the Upper East Side or Long Island. After shooting night scenes on the Brooklyn Bridge for a week last winter, he abandoned the idea.
Amanda and Helen Herman had both mentioned that investing in a luxury home in New York, especially in Manhattan, was unwise due to the high property taxes often outpacing property value appreciation...
"I recently read Richard Matheson's original book," Alexandra Daddario said. "The version we're filming is very different from the original."
Matthew nodded while sipping hot tea, "The changes are significant. This film essentially only borrows the original's world view. Films need to adapt to the times. I guess Akiva Goldsman had this in mind when he wrote this version of the script."
He had read the original, and the film's storyline was entirely different.
In the original, humanity's downfall was not due to a cancer cure vaccine but an ancient legend: vampires. Vampires were real, and by the time humanity realized it, it was too late. Robert Neville had immunity because he was bitten by a vampire bat.
Most humans perished, and those who survived were infected. There were two types: one was the living dead, driven by the bacteria, still walking and attacking with a sole instinct to drink blood. The other was the infected who were still alive and also bloodthirsty but retained their intellect.
Every night, these vampires gathered around Robert Neville's house, hoping to catch him and drink his blood, including his former driver, Ben.
According to legend, Robert Neville protected his house with garlic and crosses. He had guns, but they were ineffective against vampires.
In the original, Robert Neville's wife's fate was also entirely different. His wife died from the infection, and Neville, unable to bear throwing her into the government's mass cremation pit, buried her secretly. Soon, she came back knocking on his door...
Like in the film, Robert Neville ventured out every day, but his goal was to kill every vampire he could find. They still lived in houses, comatose during the day. Neville meticulously searched each house, staking the vampires' hearts as per legend, killing them.
He studied books at the library, found the pathogen in blood under a microscope, and understood the transmission method but couldn't find a cure.
There was a dog in the original, a surviving injured dog Neville caught, but it was infected and died a week later.
There was also a woman, vastly different from Alexandra Daddario's character. The woman appeared mysteriously, and Neville suspected she was infected. After spending a night together, he told her about his research and vampire-killing methods.
The woman attacked him, leaving a message revealing she was indeed infected. Some infected people had found a way to continue living and formed a new community.
Neville had killed too many infected, becoming a demon in this community's eyes. She had been sent to understand him and urged him to escape.
However, unlike the movie, Neville in the original was more of a warrior than a doctor. He didn't escape. In a prepared attack by the infected, he was shot and severely injured. The woman appeared, offering him a suicide pill. Neville took it, ending his life with his remaining dignity as the last human.
The world's last survivor was dead...
Compared to the film being shot, the original was colder, more despairing. Robert Neville had no ambition to save humanity, no cool and clean appearance, no daily workout routine, no leisurely golfing on the wing of a plane. The occasional black humor was filled with hopelessness and gloom.
But that's reality; no gods, only bacteria, hostility, and extinction.
Sometimes Matthew thought filming according to the original might have a good effect, but Hollywood's commercial blockbuster mechanism dictated that it wouldn't be filmed according to the original plot. After all, with a $150 million investment, making it a cold and despairing film, Warner Bros. would probably have someone take out Akiva Goldsman.
Thus, such films inevitably follow Hollywood's hero model. Even though the crew prepared two versions, Akiva Goldsman, after much deliberation, decided to use the version where Robert Neville perishes with the Night Seekers' leader as the theatrical ending.
The reason was simple: the other ending was too artistic and didn't meet the needs of a Hollywood commercial film.
The second version's ending would only appear in the later DVD release, serving as a selling point for the DVD.
The crew soon arrived at Washington Square. A professional team had been setting up the location at Washington Square for two days to ensure the crew could start filming immediately.
Like the Brooklyn Bridge, even with Alexandra Daddario's father's intervention, the New York City Hall couldn't give the crew too much filming time, especially in Manhattan.
In the script, after the disaster, Robert Neville lived in a house in Washington Square. The two endings were already filmed in the Los Angeles studio. The scenes being shot now were the outdoor ones at the square, with not many shots of Matthew.
One day was spent filming the Night Seekers' assault on Neville's residence, and another day for Matthew's outdoor scenes and Alexandra Daddario's character leaving New York with the little girl.
In just two days, the crew finished all the outdoor scenes at Washington Square, wrapping up the entire filming of "I Am Legend."
Matthew returned to Los Angeles with the crew and received an invitation from this year's Oscars committee as soon as he got back to the City of Angels.
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