Hancock (film) the United States and Canada, grossing $6.8 million. The film was widely released on July 2, 2008, expanding to 3,965 theaters. At the conclusion of the five-day weekend, "Hancock" took top placement at the box office in the United States and Canada, grossing an estimated $103.8 million. The film had the third-biggest opening 4th of July weekend after "Transformers" and "Spider-Man 2". "Hancock" was Will Smith's fifth film to open on a 4 July weekend and was his most successful opening to date. The film was also Smith's eighth film in a row to take top placement in the American
Hancock (film) emotional integrity." The director kept the scene with the prisoners since a Las Vegas test screening was overwhelmingly successful: "At the end of the day, I couldn't ignore an audience when they're laughing that hard." With such elements, studio executives only became comfortable with "Hancock" when the marketing approach focused on action and humor. Berg noted, "The ad campaign for this movie is much friendlier than the film." The MPAA ultimately gave the film a PG-13 rating, citing "some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence and language". "Hancock" was originally titled "Tonight, He Comes" and later changed to "John