Merrick here...

Back on November 28, we posted an message from an untested source who revealed that the new I AM LEGEND project, previously announced as a prequel, was actually a far less logical/appealing sequel. You can find that post HERE.

And because that source had never been tested, we urged the masses to consume said information with a grain of salt, which is a mighty fine thing to have done 'cause that "sequel" information was bunk...at least according to Will Smith.

Will Smith: We have a fantastic prequel idea…we’re still trying to work through a couple of bumps in the story. It’s essentially the fall of the last city – the last stand of Manhattan. The movie would be…within the body of the movie D.C. and then Manhattan would fall as the last city. It’s a really cool idea trying to figure it out…there’s a reason why we have to take a small band and we have to get into D.C. So we have to make our way from New York to D.C. and then back to New York.

...clarified Smith in THIS INTERVIEW over at Collider.

THIS...I can imagine & wrap my brain around. When I saw I AM LEGEND, nothing about it wreaked "franchise". I can't say it's a world I'm particularly giddy to revisit, but...given the glimpses of backstory we saw in the film...if we gotta deal with more of this at all, backwards is definitely the way to go.