2007 Thriller That Broke Box Office Records Is Suddenly Climbing the Charts 19 Years Later
Sometimes, a favorite movie of yesteryear finds itself having a resurgence decades later, whether it's through a social media trend or an upcoming sequel that brings the original film to top of mind.
This week, a 2000s hit is suddenly climbing the charts again, 17 years after it was first released in theaters.
Netflix named I Am Legend as one one its top trending films right now, placing at number 10 on the weekly Top 10 Movies list. From May 11 through May 17, the popular action thriller has been viewed 2.8 million times globally. That's 4.7 million hours of viewing time.
Directed by Francis Lawrence, the director behind The Hunger Games franchise, I Am Legend stars Will Smith and Alice Braga. The film follows U.S. Army virologist Robert Neville, the seemingly lone, immune human who survived after a man-made virus wiped out the majority of humanity and turned the rest into nocturnal, vampire-like mutants. Left to survive alongside his German Shepherd in New York City, he works to create cure while battling grief, loneliness, and survival.
Based on Richard Matheson's 1954 post-apocalyptic horror novel of the same name, the film broke box-office records, debuting with $77.2 million and becoming the biggest December opening in history, per Today.com.
"It's nice to be in the Will Smith business," said Dan Fellman, who was the head of distribution for Warner Bros at the time of the film's release. "He is just the number one box-office star in the world today."
I Am Legend took home multiple awards, including World Soundtrack Award for Film Composer of the Year, awarded to composer James Newton Howard, and the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie for Horror/Thriller.
While rumors of a sequel have been circulating for quite some time - almost two decades - it's officially on the way. In April 2026,Collider reported that the movie had finally found its director. According to the outlet, Steven Caple Jr. had confirmed that he will be developing I Am Legend 2 for Warner Bros.
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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 6:56 PM.