Oh, this is going to be huge. There's a new 3-minute trailer for Will Smith's Hancock available here and ... well, go see for yourself. I recommend the Quicktime version.

I know the all-too-common criticism that "all the good parts are in the trailer" makes this less meaningful, but: Every frame of that thing is gold. The first minute or so, with Will Smith as a sarcastic, rude, drunken superhero, is simply brilliant; I've watched the five-second exchange between Hancock and the indignant bystander ("I can smell that liquor on your breath!" "'Cause I been drinkin'!") a half-dozen times now and giggled every time. Smith deserves an Oscar just for his delivery of that line, and we don't even get to hear the whole thing (I'm guessing the next word is "b*tch"). The second half of the trailer, giving us a glimpse of Hancock's attempted PR comeback with the help of an opportunistic publicist (Jason Bateman) isn't as incredible, but I love the focus on what it's like to be a superhero not in a universe where you can do whatever you want, but in the American bureaucratic state. Hancock's canned press conference apology is priceless.

The special effects look seamless, and I'm particularly curious to see a full-on summer blockbuster done in director Peter Berg's signature volatile shaky-cam style. From what I can tell, it's a bit toned down but still unmistakably present; look at the SUV scene in the opening seconds, and the introduction of Jason Bateman about a minute in.

This looks like a summer movie made by a bunch of very smart, very talented people. And that's something to look forward to.

Why We Can't Wait to See It: For the first time in his career, Mr. Fresh Prince himself dons the superhero costume and will fly off to save the day. Sure, his superhero is a bit washed-up and drunk half the time, but if any man can bring the BIG budget and get nominated for an Oscar in the same year, it's our homeboy from Philly, Will Smith.

Why It Might Do Well: Is there anything more alluring than a combo that includes Will Smith, superheroes and the high stylings of director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom)? Additionally, you want the funny, there's Jason Bateman. You want the hotness, there's Charlize Theron. You want my opinion? I'm sold.

Why It Might Not Do Well: Will Smith always draws big numbers, but when people become so used to seeing a sequel or a film based on a familiar property (like last year's Transformers), it might be somewhat difficult to convince them that it's still okay to support an original idea.

Fun Fact: On its way to theaters, Hancock went through three different directors (Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow and Gabriele Muccino), as well as two different titles (Tonight, He Comes and John Hancock) before settling on Hancock, directed by Peter Berg.

Trivia:


Answer Key

In a summer full of old and new superheroes, one guy has been kinda flying under the radar. The big film arriving this year for Fourth of July weekend doesn't involve any giant f**king robots and it's one we haven't heard much about. USA Today just posted a sneak peek at Hancock; the new Will Smith flick directed by the very talented Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom). Above you will see the brand new image that went along with their story which adds to the other bits and pieces floating around the net (check out our full Hancock gallery below). A bunch of set photos hit awhile back, there was a teaser trailer and a poster, but that's been about it as far as Hancock goes. It's sorta like the huge summer film no one is talking about.

Now this shall be a hotly debated remake. Variety has just announced that Peter Berg will be directing the latest version of Dune for Paramount (as previously rumored). It will be produced by Kevin Misher, who has spent the last year trying obtain rights from Frank Herbert's estate.

Dune has been made twice already -- most famously by David Lynch, less so by the Sci-Fi Channel. This time, they are looking for writers who can adapt the definitive version for movie audiences. However, just a glance through any "geek" forum shows fans are already worried that the studio's belief that "its theme of finite ecological resources [is] particularly timely" is already missing the point.

The Lynch version is a film that people either love or despise. Most critics despised it upon release, but it has a fairly large fan following. (I know one guy who considers loving it a dating criteria.) Well, except me -- it's been so long since I have seen it that I fall into neither camp, especially since I watched it at 2am through very bleary eyes. I must remedy that so I can discuss this properly. So I'm not entirely convinced a remake is a bad idea -- after Lord of the Rings, no book is considered impossible, and it would please many Herbert fans to see a more loyal adaptation. Then again, there are so many sci-fi books I would love to see tackled that I'm disappointed to see them simply pick up Dune again. Perhaps it is the beginning of a trend.

Mid-strike, filmmaker Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg signed on for Cocaine Cowboys, a feature adaptation of that cocaine trafficking documentary that came out back in 2006. Mr. Wahlberg was set to play Jon Roberts, a Miami drug dealer who distributed billions of dollars worth of cocaine. Now Page Six says that he'll be joined by Departed co-star Leonardo DiCaprio for all of the retro drug shenanigans.

A movie insider told the site that this film "will blow Blow out of the water," and that Leo "is excited about the opportunity to play the airplane pilot who travels with Mark's character to obtain kilos of cocaine from Pablo Escobar." Correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume that means Leo will be Mickey Munday? (Get more info on the story through the above doc link, or in an old interview here.)

Considering how schnazzy the documentary about Roberts is, I would hope that this isn't just a straight-out drama, but something with a Basketball Diaries sort of life to it -- the film that first brought Marky Mark and Leo together. I like Leo best when he gets to be a little crazy -- a poetic, struggling Jim Carroll, or a wacky Howard Hughes, and would love to see him with a little flair in this. But what do you think? Are you ready for Leo and Marky Part 3?

So I know these aren't the first pictures to come out of Peter Berg's Hancock, but these are the first that capture Will Smith in full superhero gear. Cine21 is hosting two images of Smith in his 'tights.' Well, to be fair, they aren't tights. In fact, like most superhero costumes, it's kind of a spandex and body armor combo -- which really does make the most sense if you think about; comfortable and bullet-proof. Smith stars as Hancock; a superhero that is down on his luck. In desperate need of a PR makeover, he hires a new agent (played by Jason Bateman) in hopes of recapturing some of his former glory. Charlize Theron also stars as Bateman's wife and her involvement with Hancock causes some serious problems in her husband's working relationship with the scuzzy superhero.

I'll admit that I'm a little surprised that it took this long to get the first look at Smith in his 'Super' look. There have already been plenty of photos released from the set, a poster, and the first trailer was released back in December -- all of which featured the ordinarily dapper Smith looking like a bum. Now maybe it's just my Arrested Development nostalgia clouding my judgment, but I do think that this movie has a shot at being pretty funny. Say what you like about Will Smith, but he's got one of the best track records in the business. Plus, Berg has a knack with make comedies from unlikely premises. From a dead stripper in Vegas to a misanthropic superhero is not that much of a leap if you think about it. Hancock opens in theaters on July 2nd, 2008.

[via Empire]

Back in 1981, Miami was "Paradise Lost" -- suffering from its gig as the cocaine center of the States and murder capital to boot. In 2006, Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman set out to document those times, and former dealer Jon Roberts, in Cocaine Cowboys -- a film Martha Fischer said was "celebrating what it set out to simply document." Still, there's a story in all of that, and Paramount is planning on capturing it. Variety reports that the company has tapped Mark Wahlberg to star in the untitled film, which will focus on Roberts' life, with Peter Berg slipping into the directorial chair.

Roberts was a Vietnam soldier who headed to Miami after returning home. Somehow, he fell in with the wrong crowd and "formed a relationship with the Medellin drug cartel, distributing cocaine worth billions of dollars. Wahlberg will play Roberts, who was turned in by a cohort and served a decade in jail for his crimes." Marky Mark must really like this project, since it's going to be a while before it gets made. First, they have to wait for the WGA strike to end, then get together a working script, and then figure out scheduling. In the meantime -- Wahlberg's making some Lovely Bones and fighting with Brad Pitt, while Berg is in the throes of post-production on Hancock.

Before he was saving humanity, Will Smith was all about the comedy. ComingSoon.net is now hosting the first teaser poster for the superhero comedy, Hancock. Directed and co-written by Peter Berg (The Kingdom), the film stars Smith as a down on his luck superhero with a serious need for an image makeover. Enter Jason Bateman (Juno) as a PR agent who is hoping to do just that. Also starring is Charlize Theron as Bateman's wife and possible love-interest for Smith -- or at least those paparazzi pictures taken back in August certainly make it look that way. The project had been kicking around since the 1990's and had passed through the hands of some high-profile directors before Berg landed the job.

The first trailer for the film was released earlier this month and other than a slightly re-cycled gag about flinging marine life, it looks like there is a potential for a pretty funny flick. Personally, I'm not sold on the one sheet -- for starters Smith's expression on the poster has the unfortunate look of someone smelling something unpleasant. Not to mention there is the unfortunate choice of a tag line. But, all in all, I guess there is really not that much to tell audiences about the film other than the fact that Smith is the star. Of course, judging by the man's record at the box-office that seems to be enough to pack them into the seats. Honestly, I'm just looking forward to watching Smith in a comedy that has a little bit of edge -- this is the same director who gave us Very Bad Things after all. Hancock is set for release on July 2nd, 2008.

DVD releases are a little wacky and slow due to the holiday, so here's some nibbles from this week. Happy whatever-it-is-your-celebrating-or-not!

The Kingdom
Taking a cue from Babel, Peter Berg's The Kingdom details a deadly attack on American forces in Saudi Arabia that becomes an international news piece. However, unlike the other film, Berg's adds in the quest for retribution. While diplomats work slowly, an FBI special agent played by Jamie Foxx puts together a team to hunt down the man behind the attack. As our own James Rocchi described it: "if The Kingdom does offer bitter pills to swallow, it's also smart enough to offer a little action-flick sugar to help them go down." It's action also starring the likes of Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman, so it's hard to go wrong.

The DVD offers deleted scenes, a breakdown of "The Apartment Shootout" scene as well as another about "The Freeway Sequence," a making-of featurette, commentary, and even a history education piece. You can search a timeline of events to learn more about the issues through news stories and featurettes.

Check out James' Take and Ryan's Take | Buy the DVD


The Heartbreak Kid
I admit, this is a bit of Christmas charity since it's a slow week of releases. The Heartbreak Kid probably wouldn't have made the list otherwise, but Merry Christmas, Ben Stiller. Coming to us from the Farrelly Brothers, who have brought us the likes of Dumb & Dumber, There's Something About Mary, and Stuck on You, The Heartbreak Kid tells the case of really, really bad timing -- the tale of a man who falls for someone else during his honeymoon. On the one hand, you've got Malin Akerman (who will soon kick butt in Zach Snyder's Watchmen) playing the wife who reveals her rough spots after marrying ol' Ben. On the other, there's Michelle Monaghan, who plays Stiller's perfect girl.

Like any good comedy DVD, the extras include a gag real, as well as commentary, deleted scenes, "The Farrelly Brothers in the French Tradition," "Ben & Jerry," "Heartbreak Halloween," and an egg toss, just in case you needed some added action on the disc.

Check out James Rocchi's Review | Buy the DVD

Other New DVD Releases

The Brothers Solomon
Pan's Labyrinth -- Blu-ray or HD
Living & Dying
Lost and Found: The Harry Langdon Collection

Check out Peter Martin's Indies on DVD for even more new releases.

Consider this a spoiler warning for the whole post, if you still haven't seen The Kingdom. The people over at RopeofSilicon have found the time amidst all their holiday shopping to sit down and listen to Peter Berg's director's commentary on the upcoming DVD of the film and it contains some interesting reveals. According to Berg, the original script had a fascinating and very dark ending -- too dark for it to make it through to the shooting stage. Remember the character of Haytham, the Saudi policeman who gets beaten by the scary general early in the film, because the general suspects he was involved with the terrorist plot? Well, turns out the general was on to something. The original ending of the film, scrapped by Berg, comes after the death of Abu Hamza and all his goons. We see the team going to the airport and all the Saudi good guys they've met during their trip are there to say goodbye to them, including Haytham. Here's how Berg tells it:

"In the original draft, at this moment, when Jamie went to say goodbye Jamie hugged him and he realized that [Haytham] was carrying a bomb on him and the character of Haytham detonated the bomb and the entire team was killed and it was a very powerful ending. At the end we decided it was just too much." Boo. That would have been a much more powerful ending, and much more evocative of the cultural ambiguity that Berg tries to set up with his current ending. I wish they would have at least shot that ending so that we could see how it plays out in comparison, on the DVD perhaps.

No, Tom Cruise won't be starring in the new version of Frank Herbert's Dune, but it sure does look like Peter Berg is going to be one busy director over the next few years. According to an informative report over at the MTV Movies Blog, we now know that Berg's next projects are:

1. A spy thriller with Tom Cruise that has a "great" script (aka Edwin A. Salt, which we reported on the other day).

2. A "big, big, big" big-screen rendition of Dune, which was made into a feature film by David Lynch back in 1984, as well as a collection of well-received cable mini-series.

When asked about "remaking" a film made by the illustrious David Lynch, the director was more than diplomatic: "Berg said that while he's "a big fan of Lynch," he believes "that interpretation has left the door wide open for a remake."

So that's good news for Berg, obviously. Tom Cruise and a massive sci-fi epic back-to-back. Not too shabby for the kid who once starred in Wes Craven's goofy Shocker. And while Berg's resumé as a character actor might be a little choppy, there's little denying that he's a solid director: His films include Very Bad Things, The Rundown, Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom. That's what we call 4-for-4. Well, I do.

Considering how hard it is to get people to go see a Tom Cruise movie these days, it wouldn't be surprising if it was also hard to get a director who'll work with the guy. Of course, Cruise's waning bankability isn't the reason that his spy movie, the weakly titled Edwin A. Salt, has already lost Terry George and Michael Mann as potential directors. I'm not sure why they aren't doing the film (Mann apparently picked Public Enemies instead), but it can't be fears of a potentially low gross. No matter; they are out and Peter Berg (The Kingdom) is in, according to Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider Blog. Well, he's not quite in yet; Columbia Pictures is only reportedly wooing the guy, though in the end it's supposedly up to Cruise's approval whether or not he gets the gig. Interestingly enough, Berg can almost be viewed as a Mann protégé, since he produced The Kingdom and Berg's follow-up, next summer's Will Smith vehicle, Hancock (the trailer of which hit the net this week). However, it doesn't appear that Mann will have any involvement with Edwin A. Salt.

I won't admit to being the biggest fan of Berg's work (who could, really?), but I will admit that The Kingdom was one of my top ten movies of 2007. Though it's mainly on my list because all critics have to have that one obligatory mainstream Hollywood pick, I do think it was directed quite well, with a tone that perfectly suited what it was really about (American dreams of an '80s action-movie-type response to 9/11). Also, his Friday Night Lights (the film; I haven't seen the TV pilot he did) was better than most high school football movies. So, I'm excited to see what he can do with Cruise, a script from Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium) and the beginning-to-get-tired world of spies.

Though the film has gone through a bunch of titles (Tonight, He Comes, John Hancock), they've finally settled on Hancock, and the first trailer for the film has arrived online (courtesy of JoBlo). In Hancock, Will Smith plays a superhero named Hancock who's fallen on hard times, and when he hires a PR exec (Jason Bateman) to correct his image, Hancock winds up falling for the dude's wife (Charlize Theron). What are we getting here? Well, the first trailer shows us tons of special effects and a lot of comedy mixed together -- all of it to the tune of hip hop. Funny thing is, the film isn't even listed as a comedy -- IMDb has it as a action drama/fantasy -- though they're clearly going for laughs in this first bit of marketing material.

And you know what, those laughs are actually pretty funny. Like the part when Hancock looks at the YouTube clip of himself saving a beached whale. Only, when he throws the whale back out to sea, it lands on a lone sailboat way out in the ocean. "I don't even remember that ," he says. Bateman replies, "Green Peace does." There's a bunch of stuff like that here; apparently they're setting up the fact that Hancock (who looks like a homeless guy) keeps trying to save the day, though he causes a ton of destruction in the process. It's like the anti-superhero movie, and it definitely looks like it belongs in the summer popcorn fluff category. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Directed by Peter Berg, Hancock arrives in theaters on July 2, 2008.

Many of us get tense over that nasty, 6-letter word -- sequel. Usually, they come many years after the original, trying to put a new spin on things that sometimes works, but often doesn't. And then there's Dune -- the project that seems to pop up every decade. In the seventies, there was almost an immense, star-studded feature teaming epic names like Dali and Giger. David Lynch then took a stab at it in the eighties, which he regrets. Finally, there was the miniseries, which came out just after the '90s.

Now there's been a lot of rumors of yet another attempt. Frank Herbert's grandson had posted about the possibility to a Dune forum -- saying someone at a studio really wants to do that, a director sort of someone. AICN has now gotten word from one of their sources about the potential project, who says that the studio is Paramount, and the guy in question is none other than Peter Berg. Yes, the guy who just brought us The Kingdom.

Personally, I'm both intrigued and a little apprehensive. The actor/writer/director/producer has proven his worth on a number of projects, but there's real life, and then there's Dune. It just makes me want to ask a lot of questions. Can Berg handle sci-fi? Heck, can anyone handle the world of Dune? Do we need a new Dune? Is it time to stop trying? Why do they keep trying? Have people been ingesting too much spice?

What do you get when you cross Citizen Kane with Ruthless People? Something that sounds like the greatest movie ever, right? Well, we'll see if that's really what we get when Peter Berg makes a movie about the kidnapping of teenage heir J. Paul Getty III. According to Variety, the actor/director is developing a project based on John Pearson's book "Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty" (with that title, it sounds like another Bette Midler movie is thrown into the mix, too). For those who don't know the story, 16 year old Getty III was abducted in Rome and the kidnappers demanded $17 million. But his miserly grandfather -- the founder of Getty Oil -- initially refused to pay up. At first everyone thought the kid was pulling a prank. Eventually the poor teen's ear was mailed to the family. Finally, gramps paid, though he only did so with the assurance he'd be paid back by Getty II (his son) ... with interest. As for Getty III, well he became totally screwed up, turned to drugs and his life was ruined forever. Thanks grandpa!

The trade doesn't mention whether or not Berg, whose new film, The Kingdom, is now in theaters, will direct the pic; he's currently shooting the washed-up superhero movie Hancock, starring Will Smith, and then he's linked to a few other projects, including the true Navy SEAL story Lone Survivorr, the racehorse drama Gone Like the Wind, the Cheung fo remake The Mission and the fantasy Bran Mak Morn. He will definitely be involved in producing the Getty film, through his company Film 44, along with Working Title's Chris Clark (Catch a Fire). The adaptation of Pearson's book is being written by Robin Shushman, an apparent newbie (no IMDb listing) who is also currently writing the script for The Contortionist's Handbook. Hopefully she will make the thing twisted enough, and possibly add in some relevance to how good today's spoiled heirs have it.