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Hancock
Interview with director, Peter Berg
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Pedigree: Michael Mann producing. Peter Berg directing. Will Smith starring. Estimated budget: $120 million. Predicted box office: $180 million (US gross), $350 million (worldwide).
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Peter Berg has been quietly establishing himself as one of Hollywood’s finest new directors, leaping from genre to genre on movies like Welcome To The Jungle and the superb Friday Night Lights. And for his next trick, he’s re-inventing the superhero film. “I was asked to direct X-Men 3,” he tells Empire. “But I felt that it was Bryan Singer’s world. I said to myself that I’d love to do something like that — but not a sequel. And this is something that’s self-genned.”
This 'self-genned' material is Hancock, in which Will Smith once again plays with his cocky, self-confident image. "It's an action-comedy-romance, but it's a little bit off," smiles Berg. "Will plays an alcoholic superhero who everybody hates, and he's trying to reclaim his spirit." He reclaims said spirit by falling in love with Charlize Theron. But there's a small snag. Not only is Theron married, but she's married to the PR guy (Jason Bateman) that Hancock hired to rebuild his image.
So this promises to be pretty different, not least when you factor in Berg's trademark handheld shooting style - "If you do it right, it just feels slightly more real" - and the classy influence of his guru, Michael Mann, who's producing the film. Then there's the action - more comedic than audiences weaned on Dark Knights and angst-ridden mutants may be used to. "On all his missions, he's drunk," says Berg. "So when he's flying, he's flying drunk. He picks up a car to bring it into the police station and he's not paying attention, clips the side of a building and knocks out six storeys..."
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