READ AN INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIZE THERON
READ MORE ABOUT THE STUNTS
AND VISUAL EFFECTS, THE SETS AND LOCATIONS,
AND HANCOCK'S SUPERSUIT

There are heroes… there are superheroes… and then there's Hancock (Will Smith).  With great power comes great responsibility - everyone knows that - everyone, that is, but Hancock.  Disgruntled, conflicted, sarcastic, and misunderstood, Hancock's well-intentioned heroics might get the job done and save countless lives, but always seem to leave jaw-dropping damage in their wake.  The public has finally had enough - as grateful as they are to have their local hero, the good citizens of Los Angeles are wondering what they did to deserve this guy.  Hancock isn't a man who cares what people think - until the day that he saves the life of PR executive Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), and the unpopular superhero begins to realize that he may have a vulnerable side after all. 

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO
"Hancock is not your average superhero," says Will Smith, the star of Columbia Pictures' new action-comedy, Hancock.  Smith says that he was attracted to the film by the chance to bring an original, unique story to the screen - Hancock, a superhero movie that expands the boundaries of the genre by stressing human emotion.  "There's this idea that 'summer' movies are about action and that 'fall' movies are about character," he says.  "Well, what happens if you take a powerful, dramatic story with rich character arcs and set it in a world with all the bells and whistles of a July 4^th movie?  Why can't you marry those and get the best of both worlds?"
The way that Smith and his fellow filmmakers - producers Akiva Goldsman, Michael Mann, and James Lassiter, and director Peter Berg - would do that was to introduce the character to audiences in an unusual way.  The movie would not focus on how Hancock got his powers or chose to use them; instead, Hancock would cut a universal figure as a man in the middle of his career who hates his job and wants out.  His superpowers, far from a blessing, have given him an attitude that cuts him off from the public that should be his biggest fans.
"There's only one person who could pull that off," says Goldsman.  "I can't even conceive of Hancock without Will Smith playing him."
"Will was excited to play a superhero," says producer James Lassiter.  "When we saw this script, we thought it was the perfect way to do this kind of movie - an irreverent superhero you haven't seen before.  Hancock is an exceptional, interesting character that breaks the mold."
With Smith on board, it was an easy task to convince Peter Berg, acclaimed for his work as director of Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom, to direct the film. "Will is one of the few movie stars who have a real confluence of skills," Berg continues.  "He's talented, he's fearless and he's extremely honest.  When those three elements come together, the person can play almost anything, and Will is certainly willing to try anything."
According to Michael Mann, the result is the perfect match between star and material - a film that delivers what audiences expect from Will while also engaging them in surprising ways.  "We set out to make a movie that moved between being profoundly funny and irreverent to sexy and romantic, to thrilling and then wonderfully heartbreaking. Will Smith's power as an actor is in his ability to inhabit the states of mind of this complex character in such profound ways. He is the center of gravity…" says Mann.
"Hancock is complicated," says Smith.  "Every day, he wakes up mad at the world.  He doesn't remember what happened to him and there's no one to help him find the answers.  He has good intentions, but has trouble connecting to the world around him.'"
Smith says that the film is rooted in a profound human emotion.  "Hancock is like the high school quarterback with all the talent in the world who can't get his attitude right," Smith continues.  "He doesn't realize that the reason his team isn't winning is because his love and comprehension of the game is out - he doesn't understand the beauty of teamwork.  Being part of a group, interacting with other people, is the central, human idea.  For Hancock, he finds himself in a totally isolated place until he meets Ray Embrey, who brings him back into the fold of society."
Jason Bateman takes on the role of Ray, the bleeding-heart PR exec.  "When Hancock saves his life, Ray wants to pay him back by teaching Hancock how to conduct himself more appropriately and clean up his image.  But for Ray, it's not just about image control - he actually wants to teach Hancock how to be a better superhero."
"I had a lot of room to explore Ray because he is such a trusting soul," adds Bateman.  "He wears rose-colored glasses, he is naïve, and he thinks he can see beyond Hancock's hard, crusty shell to his soft and chewy insides up until their relationship becomes a bit more complicated.  All that made Ray a rewarding character to play."
"Charlize Theron is the musical note that fits perfectly with Will and Jason Bateman," says Goldsman.  "We needed three people, all of whom the audience would want to see win; it was a real balancing act."
For her part, Theron was attracted to her role for a multitude of reasons.  First, of course, was the chance to re-team with Smith, whom she'd worked with on The Legend of Bagger Vance.  "Will plays the part so beautifully," she says. 
Theron was also impressed by the script, which she found had rich and compelling characters.  Where her husband, Ray, sees only the superhero that Hancock could be someday, Mary comes from the perspective of the average Angeleno.  "She is fed up with Hancock's bad behavior which, on the surface, appears to be totally irresponsible and destructive," she says.  "She is adamant that he not disrupt the idyllic life she's created with Ray and their son.  But when Hancock starts to show some signs that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that he might turn his behavior around, and she still doesn't accept him, then you start to question why." 
The filmmakers also raise the emotional stakes by adding Jae Head to the cast as Aaron, the Embreys' young son.  Although the 11-year-old stars in Berg's series "Friday Night Lights," the filmmakers read more than thirty young actors before settling on Head.  "Kid actors can be tricky," says Berg, "but Jae is untouched and uncorrupted.  He lives in Texas, where his dad is a high school football coach and his mom is always with him.  You get the feeling that he's just as happy being a ball boy for his dad as he is hanging out on set with Will Smith.  He's a perceptive kid that's gone through a lot in his life and he understands that every day is a gift; he has a great attitude.  He throws himself into everything."
Berg used his own family tradition of making spaghetti and meatballs every Sunday evening to illustrate the family's close bond.  Every Thursday night the Embreys celebrate "spaghetti madness" making sure to spend at least one night a week at dinner together rather than allowing work, school or other distractions to take precedence over sharing family time.
"I ate maybe 20 plates," Head says about filming the family dinner scenes.  "I forgot to eat breakfast that morning because I was so excited to get on set, so at the beginning I was happy to eat.  But by the end of the day, I felt like yelling, 'Don't say the word 'spaghetti' to me!'"

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR AND PRODUCERS
Once best-known for his acting, Peter Berg has lately won over critics and audiences with his powerful and inventive films as a director.
After collaborating with Michael Mann on Berg's film The Kingdom, Berg stepped behind the camera to direct Hancock.  Mann says that though Berg creates an easygoing and spontaneous atmosphere on the set, beneath the surface is a prepared and focused director.  "Pete has an intuitive sense and is improvisational in his choices," says Mann, "but he's a lot more focused and intellectual than he lets on.  He thinks quite seriously about everything."
"Peter Berg seems like a good-hearted little boy who wants to have fun," echoes Akiva Goldsman, "but it's a mask he puts on in order to generate an ambiance, a spontaneity, around the process. In truth he is a deeply thoughtful and very smart individual who tries to wink and nod his way out of engaging those attributes until he feels it's useful."
"Pete has a distinct voice," Smith says.  "It's a style and flavor that is uniquely Pete.  He's on a savant level in terms of how he shoots and how he creates.  I was excited to see what would happen when Pete put Hancock, as a real dude with real problems, into a superhero suit."
"Pete has an actor's confidence that's very different from what a writer, director or producer exudes," Mann continues.  "He knows when he has to hold on to a thought or an emotion and how to make a shot or a scene work for a specific actor to achieve the emotion he's looking for from the audience."
"He was very upfront and honest about how he liked to work," says Theron, recalling her first meeting with Berg.  "He told me he was just going to yell things in the middle of takes.  He said, 'I'm not going to cut, I don't like to cut, so I hope you're OK with that.'  I had never worked that way before, but now, I can't imagine not shooting that way."
Berg was part of the team of filmmakers that came together to bring Hancock to the screen.  Each one - Smith, Lassiter, Mann, Goldsman, and Berg - each brought something to the table that helped Hancock's journey to the big screen.
"Filmmaking is a team sport," says Smith.  "For a film like Hancock, we needed as many off-center points of view as possible - and everyone on this team is one degree off of normal.  What made this a wonderful collaboration is that we all had these really strange ideas - anyone could say anything - and the number one idea, an idea that felt like part of the DNA of the material, would stand out."
"We formed a group where we really relied on each other," explains Goldsman.  "Pete can write, direct, and produce a movie, Michael can direct and produce, Will can produce and direct, J.L. can certainly produce, I can write a movie and if you put a gun to my head, I could probably direct a scene.  It doesn't mean you do one another's jobs, it just means that each of us had the other's back."
"I had to keep bobbing and weaving," laughs Berg.  "A group like Akiva, Michael, Will, and J.L. is like a force of nature; they kept me on my toes.  Michael would come at me, bam, and then Akiva, and then J.L., who is like the silent assassin," he jokes.  "We tweaked parts of the script and dialed in some details, but the credit for this story really goes to Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan.
"As an actor, I learned that it's important to get your head right and be in the right moment," he continues.  "There is so much subterfuge in moviemaking that we forget what matters - the audience, sitting in a theater, enjoying what they're watching a year after we've completed production.  Will's got this saying, 'If you stay ready, you never have to get ready.'  Staying in the right frame of mind makes that possible for me."
"He creates a really nice atmosphere on set," agrees Smith, "where anybody from the cast or crew can give him ideas and he'll listen.  He's open and he likes to have fun so everyone enjoys coming to work. It's still high pressure and high tempo, but the work is done with a good spirit."

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

PETER BERG (Director) is a prolific talent with a taste for challenging, compelling material, whether as a writer, director, producer or actor.  He made his feature directorial debut with the cult favorite Very Bad Things, starring Cameron Diaz, Jon Favreau and Christian Slater.  Berg went on to direct the action hit The Rundown, starring The Rock, Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson and Christopher Walken, and the critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights, based on the bestselling novel about Texas football by H.G. Bissinger, starring Billy Bob Thornton.  The latter film was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the top 10 films of the year and was named one of the top ten films of 2004 by David Ansen of Newsweek.
Berg's most recent feature is The Kingdom, a Michael Mann-produced political thriller set in Saudi Arabia starring Academy Award winners Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper with Jennifer Garner.  The film was released in September 2007.
Film 44, Berg's and producing partner Sarah Aubrey's Universal-based development/production company, developed and produced The Kingdom, and is developing several additional features for Universal and other studios.  Film 44 is also actively producing for television. Its first project is the critically hailed NBC-TV hour-long drama "Friday Night Lights," based on the film and book.  Last year, Berg was nominated for an Emmy award for his outstanding directing of the pilot of this show.  Film 44 is also developing for NBC "Deadline," a one-hour dramatic thriller told in reverse time. The Company has several additional titles in active development.
For television, Berg previously created, wrote, produced, and directed the ABC drama series "Wonderland."  Berg also wrote and directed episodes of David Kelley's critically acclaimed series, "Chicago Hope," in which he also starred for three seasons.  He made an indelible impression as the cocky, hockey-playing surgeon Dr. Billy Kronk on the medical drama.  Most recently, he was seen in a recurring role on the ABC action series, "Alias."
As an actor, Berg gained considerable notice for his starring role opposite Linda Fiorentino in John Dahl's neo-noir The Last Seduction.  He won critical acclaim for his portrayal of a naive local who falls for the dubious charms of Fiorentino's femme fatale.  He was also seen in Michael Mann's Collateral with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.  He was most recently seen in Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces, a Universal release. Other notable acting film credits include James Mangold's independent drama, Cop Land with Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel; The Great White Hype opposite Samuel L. Jackson; Spike Lee's Girl 6; Wes Craven's Shocker; Late For Dinner with Marcia Gay Harden; Keith Gordon's A Midnight Clear; and Fire in the Sky.
Berg's interest in performing was inspired as a child attending Broadway plays twice a month with his parents.  He studied theater at Macalester College in Minneapolis, where he appeared in several theatrical productions, including "Flibberty Gibbet" and "Tartuffe."

VY VINCENT NGO (Screenwriter) was born in Vietnam and moved to the U.S. when he was seven years old.  He graduated from UCI with a Bachelor's degree in philosophy and received his Master of Fine Arts degree in screenwriting at UCLA.

VINCE GILLIGAN (Screenwriter) grew up in Virginia, born in Richmond and raised in the little town of Farmville.  He attended NYU, graduating with a degree in film production.  In 1989 at the fledgling Virginia Film Festival, he won a screenwriting award which garnered him the attention of producer Mark Johnson (Rain Man, The Chronicles of Narnia).  For Johnson, Gilligan wrote Wilder Napalm, starring Debra Winger and Dennis Quaid; and Home Fries, starring Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson.  Both are available in finer bargain bins everywhere.
In 1995, Gilligan switched over to television as a staff writer for the hit series "The X-Files." He stayed with the show for seven years, ultimately becoming one of its executive producers and winning two Golden Globes.  He also helped create a spin-off, "The Lone Gunmen."  For his fellow "X-Files" producer Frank Spotnitz, he wrote an episode of the short-lived CBS series "Robbery Homicide Division."  This brought him to the attention of Hancock producer Michael Mann.
Splitting his writing between the big and small screens, Gilligan's current project is the Sony/AMC television series "Breaking Bad."  The critically acclaimed series stars Bryan Cranston ("Malcolm in the Middle") as a straight-arrow chemist who, upon being diagnosed with terminal cancer, chooses to cook crystal meth in order to support his family.
For Sony Pictures and producer Mark Johnson, Gilligan is also working on 2FACE, a comedy about racism.

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