I Am Legend has made Warner Brothers a ridiculous amount of money, and it’s still in theaters making it. So it should come as no surprise to anyone to learn that the WB has already started lining things up for a sequel. Shock Till You Drop reports that they’ve gotten Richard Matheson, the author of the original novel on which the film is based, to sign off on the rights to a sequel.

Of course that doesn’t mean it’ll happen, it may be something Warners is doing “just in case”. A case, which I hope never comes. I love I Am Legend, in fact it made it into my top 10 list for 2007, but it’s perfect as is. It’s a standalone movie, there’s no room in it for a follow up. Anything else they do with it would invariably be a thinly constructed cash-in. There’s really only two ways to make another one. Either do a prequel, which would destroy the original film by over-explaining things we didn’t need to know about, or do a sequel which follows characters we don’t know or care about. Neither option is particularly attractive. The last man on Earth should be left alone.