Hancock Film

Hancock is a 2008 superhero film directed by Peter Berg and starring and co-produced by Will Smith. Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron also star in the film. It tells the story of a vigilante superhero, John Hancock (Smith), from Los Angeles whose reckless actions routinely cost the city millions of dollars. Eventually one person he saves, Ray Embrey (Bateman), makes it his mission to change Hancock's public image for the better.

The story was originally written by Vincent Ngo in 1996 and languished in development hell in Hollywood for some time. The project has had various directors attached, including Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow, and Gabriele Muccino. Hancock was originally intended to be filmed before I Am Legend, also starring Will Smith. Hancock was filmed in Los Angeles with a production budget of $150 million.

In the United States, the film was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America after changes were made at the organization's request in order to avoid a "restricted" (R) rating, which it had received twice before. The film was widely released on July 2, 2008 in the United States and the United Kingdom by Columbia Pictures. Hancock has received mainly negative to mixed reviews from film critics, however, to date, the film has grossed an estimated $371,318,933 worldwide.