comment #1

Fien Print says ...

This is why I'm amazed Sony screened this movie so early and didn't put any sort of embargo restrictions on either of the trades. So Variety and the Reporter both have pans out more than a week before the movie's release. It's like they want to see how Will Smith will do with this sort of critical handicap. My hunch? It won't make a lick o' difference.

For my part, I liked the movie more than the critics for either trade. It's uneven in tone and structure, but I looked at the 92 minute version and imagined the 110-minute, R-rated version Berg probably wishes he could have released. But Smith and Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron are very good and the movie is full of unconnected strong parts.

So far, it's the first movie of the summer where I walked out saying, "Gee I wish that had been LONGER." Is it *good*? Not really. But I kinda think it could have been.

comment #2

btwnproductions says ...

The only thing worse than a superhero movie is a spoof of a superhero movie. But the prospect of a Smith flameout, along the lines of WILD WLD WEST, is oddly pleasing.

comment #3

BurmaShave says ...

Motherfuckers wishing for the failure of the last true movie star have no business being in the film business, even tangentially. Rising tide, etc. etc.

Furthermore, 92 minutes tell you all you need to know about why this movie will be a massive hit. Feel free to use these words against me in two weeks. You got mad weapons too? Don't wanna hear that!

comment #4

Edward says ...

I'm still curious about this.

comment #5

CinemaPhreek says ...

We might be on the verge of watching Smith fall from his top-of-the-heap position as the US' biggest star.

When was the last time he was in a really top-notch movie? Sure, people are showing up, but are they going away thrilled or just content? Because you get the A-listing and $25M per because everyone (not just your biggest fans) goes away happy. I was shocked when I looked at his filmography and realized just how few decent films he has racked up since his 3 summer hit parade of BAD BOYS (95), INDEPENDENCE DAY (96) and MEN IN BLACK (97).

His last summer hit was I, ROBOT four years ago and it didn't make it over the new "blockbuster" status level of $200M ($144M).

comment #6

Arran says ...

His "last summer hit" also happened to be the last movie of his that opened in the summer. So...it's kind of meaningless to cite that as if it means anything. He also had hits in each of the two summers prior to that.

comment #7

mutinyco says ...

Movie stars don't guarantee $200M.

Movie stars guarantee $100M.

Anything more than that is the result of the movie itself. Even Tom Cruise had only 2 movies that passed $200M domestic. He was always a reliable 100M.

And Will Smith has 7 starring films (including Shark Tale) in a row that have done $100M domestic.

comment #8

gradystiles says ...

btwnproductions: Hancock is not a "spoof" of superhero movies.

comment #9

btwnproductions says ...

It's hard to see how the "rising tide" of Will Smith lifts anyone's boat but Will Smith's. The biz will go on without his annual summer contribution. As has been mentioned here, a failure or two might do his career some good. He's grown complacent at the top of the tide, and is largely uninteresting as an actor because of it. His potential to do anything besides bring home the bacon for the studio that's hiring him and a truckload of supporting CGI is untested, outside of two or three pictures. (Well, a slice or two of the bacon; I'm sure he gets the fattest cut of the hog.)

comment #10

btwnproductions says ...

McCarthy calls it "genre satire." If it makes you feel better: The only thing worse than a superhero movie is a satire of a superhero movie.

comment #11

CinemaPhreek says ...

I ROBOT was a summer film with Will Smith, yet it still didn't make it into the top 10 for the year. It also didn't out gross BOURNE SUPREMACY ($176M) which opened to EXACTLY the same amount ($52M). How's that for meaningful?

comment #12

Fien Print says ...

CinemaPhreek -- What does making good films have to do with being a movie star?

And while "I Robot" may not have met your standard of a blockbuster, it opened at $50-plus million. If the movie star's job is to make sure a movie opens, that one opened.

Was "Pursuit of Happyness" not a decent film? It's not a masterpiece, but it's a solid male weepie. It's a solid male weepie that made more than $160 million domestic and more than $300 million worldwide. I mean, that's INSANE box office for a movie of that kind.

I just can't understand the phrase "We might be on the verge of watching Smith fall from his top-of-the-heap position as the US' biggest star." when his last movie was his biggest domestic hit since "Independence Day," a movie that did nearly $600 million worldwide.

On "Hancock," Will Smith's job is to get people there the first weekend. The movie's going to open. If it falls off because audiences didn't like it, that falls as much on the studio that wanted the shorter, santized, PG-13 version of the movie rather than an adaptation of the script Smith signed on for.

And who's on the verge of taking Smith's status as the US' biggest star? He can't lose it if somebody doesn't take it...

comment #13

Josh Massey says ...

"But the prospect of a Smith flameout..."

I'm just not sure how anybody could feel such an animosity toward Smith, one of the more likable guys out there. I've said it before - I wish he made better movies. I haven't truly liked any of his films since Enemy of the State, but he's never had a lazy performance or even a line-reading.

Oh, and anybody thinks that this - no matter how bad - is doing less than $200 million, they're kidding themselves. And to be honest, I find it hard to believe Peter Berg has made a bad movie, because he has yet to do so.

comment #14

Arran says ...

"And while "I Robot" may not have met your standard of a blockbuster, it opened at $50-plus million. If the movie star's job is to make sure a movie opens, that one opened."

Exactly. Even Wild Wild West, which was of course much hated and had toxic buzz long before it screened, opened to $49m. Which in 2008 dollars would probably be over $60m.

Of course it sucked and cost an insane amount of money, but Smith still delivered a big opening. He delivers in that regard time and time again.

comment #15

Undercover Brother says ...

Peter Berg hasn't made a bad movie? What the Hell was "The Rundown?" Loud, stupid, action garbage. It had a nice line reading by Walken every once in a while, but it was crap all the same.

Didn't see the football flick.

"The Kingdom?" Not at all bad but nothing really memorable either.

comment #16

BurmaShave says ...

I don't really even want to know what kind of person can't enjoy THE RUNDOWN for what it is. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS and THE KINGDOM are both tremendous genre films.

comment #17

erniesouchak says ...

That's B.S. I saw the movie last night, and it will make a ton of money.

comment #18

PoisonSkin says ...

ah man. I always root for berg.

maybe they can put out a better dvd.

comment #19

bmcintire says ...

Don't forget I AM LEGEND. Though not released in the summer, it's a summery-popcorn-flick nonetheless. It opened to over $70M just before frigging Christmas and did nearly $250M domestic alone.

comment #20

Richardson says ...

He not only made 'I Am Legend' open, but he convinced a lot of people it was a *good* movie. That's a star!

That said, I'm getting wary of 'Hancock' because every ad has been exactly the same for the last month or two.

comment #21

cinemascopian says ...

Oh my God! Todd McCarthy reads my site before writing? The "Last Action Hero whiff" riff was posted by me two days ago:

http://cinemascopian.com/2008/06/23/hancock-first-review-will-this-movie-ruin-will-smiths-career/

comment #22

theultimatebiu says ...

If 'Wild Wild West' did not kill Will Smith's career I doubt this will. 'WWW' was awful I still can't bring myself to ever watch that movie again

comment #23

vansmith says ...

Pardon my language but does he fuck this girl in the movie?

comment #24

K. Bowen says ...

So now we're debating whether or not Will Smith is a big box office star? If he's not, who exactly is?

comment #25

Rich S. says ...

"He not only made 'I Am Legend' open, but he convinced a lot of people it was a *good* movie. That's a star!"

True, true. There are a lot of problems with I Am Legend, mostly in the third act, but none of them is Will Smith.

Will Smith grossed $250 mil. domestically in a movie that's about the end of the world, in which he is the only human character for about 2/3 of it (SPOILER) in which both his character and, most importantly, his dog, die.

If you can get repeat business into that kind of thing, you are a movie star.

Incidentally, for those who haven't seen it, the alternate ending on the DVD, while not saving the movie, fixes some of the problems and stays much truer to the novel. It's hard to believe that they didn't use it considering (SPOILER) Smith lives in that version.

comment #26

bents75 says ...

Not that this really has anything to do with being a movie star, but I thought it was interesting a few weeks ago when he said...

“I was on this stage in 1988, so to be here today in 2008... I haven't always made great movies, but I've been trying real hard." Will Smith on collecting his Best Male Performance award for I Am Legend. (at the MTV movie awards)

This was just minutes after...

He told Bay, "We need Bad Boys 3. I was just watching Bad Boys 2. with my son and I told him you can't open a movie better. That's the best movie opening ever!"

comment #27

actionman says ...

I cannot wait to see this film.

comment #28

Feathers McGraw says ...

I absolutely love 'The Rundown.' It's like an updated version of 'Commando' and all the other second-tier action movies of the 1980s, only with a much funnier script and charming, charismatic lead in Mr. Johnson. For those who have seen 'Hancock'-- is it pretty much the same as the original 'Tonight, He Comes' script, which was wonderfully written but terribly downbeat, or did they add the requisite number of 'Aw, hell naw's for Mr. Smith?

comment #29

mizerock says ...

Yeah, that's odd - I have no interest in seeing this version of the movie, but I would consider renting a longer R-rated version. Although chances are, they'll just add on a few scenes for the DVD release, the version that Smith signed up for will never exist.

comment #30

Midwest Doug says ...

Has anyone watched Last Action Hero recently? Holds up well.

comment #31

Rev. Slappy says ...

Burma: I am with you on The Rundown, I would go so far to say it's Berg's work on the film that really elevates a pretty ho hum script. And I know I will take some heat for bringing up the specter of television on this site, but Berg also adapted Friday Night Lights into one of the very best shows on television.

comment #32

Brock Landers says ...

I like Berg, I enjoyed the Rundown and especially FNL and the Kingdom, but Very Bad Things was an ungodly turd. Methinks he's learned a lot since then.

Hancock gets the benefit of the doubt from me. Matinee, here I come.

comment #33

Richardson says ...

"Has anyone watched Last Action Hero recently? Holds up well."

I am constantly surprised at how well Arnold's stuff holds up. His mid-'80's cheese is so quintessentially '80's cheesy, but still entertaining.

That said, 'Last Action Hero' has always been just too long. They're not sure which parts to develop, so they just develop everything, almost at random. The end product is weird; each half of the movie feels like three-quarters of a movie, but they're just smashed together.

However, there are some great laughs in it, and it's such a weird movie that I certainly can't hate it.

comment #34

Rich S. says ...

I still love the bit in Last Action Hero where the kid is trying to prove to Arnold that they're in a movie by trying to get him to say "that word." The movie isn't great, but I wish the whole thing had been of that caliber.