Hancock (film) Hancock (film) Hancock is a 2008 American superhero comedy film directed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman. 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. It languished in "development hell" for years and had various directors attached, including Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow, and Gabriele Muccino before
Hancock (film) and Canadian box office and the twelfth film in Smith's career to lead the box office. "Hancock" was also Peter Berg's strongest opening of his directing career to date. Chad Hartigan, analyst for Exhibitor Relations, said about Smith's successful opening, "Audiences don't care what critics say; they're going to turn out for anything he does." Outside the United States and Canada, "Hancock" grossed $78.3 million in its opening weekend, drawing from 5,444 screenings across 50 markets, ranking it the third highest international opening of 2008 after "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Iron Man". "Hancock" averaged