How could anyone not like Will Smith? He’s going to have to convince people he can be a pain in next summer’s action comedy Hancock. He plays a drunk superhero who needs a publicist to fix his image. Jason Bateman plays that publicist.
“I’m teaching him how to navigate those waters, and be more polite in press conferences,” said Bateman. “And I’ve got to get him a little outfit and a cape, and everything. Basically, I’m a corporate PR guy.”
Then, John Hancock (Smith) goes after his publicist’s wife (Charlize Theron). She hinted that there was more to Hancock than the superhero love triangle. “It was very smart and very intelligent and had this kind of historical element to it that I was fascinated by,” she said. “It’s not silly, it’s not stupid. It’s fun but I think it’s smart. I think Akiva [Goldsman] writes really interesting material. There’s a lot of heavy stuff in this, really, really heavy stuff. ”
Bateman added that there are still plenty of explosions for the summer crowd. “There’s flying and special effects, and things are blowing up, and trains are getting tossed,” said Bateman. “It’s so much work.”
In those scenes, Theron deferred to Smith. “I like the idea of doing this and looking at Will and going, ‘I don’t know, Men in Black IV, you tell me. I don’t do these.’ So I like that challenge.
