As the ads for Will Smith's latest project, I Am Legend, announce: "The Last Man on Earth is Not Alone."

Well, this applied to the actor during filming, as well: director Francis Lawrence played a key role throughout production of the flick. Below is an excerpt of an interview conducted with him:

ShockTillYouDrop.com: Why rescue I Am Legend from development hell?
Francis Lawrence: I read one of [screenwriter Mark] Protosevich's drafts before I did "Constantine" and it stuck in my head. I hadn't read the novel before that draft. When I was finishing "Constantine," Akiva and I were talking about working together again and Warners gave him that project to resurrect 'cause they thought it was dead.

Will Smith, in a scene from I Am Legend. 

He brought it up to me, and I finally read the novel. Even before these projects, I was always intrigued by someone surviving in an abandoned urban environment. Back when I was doing music videos I'd try to do that with some of the artists I worked with. Trying to sell this feeling of isolation and emptiness.

I said, Let's take a crack at it, and we went off with our own take from there.

Click here to read the full interview.