tonight he comes Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Okay, so we went through something similar with Frank Darabont's unused draft of the latest Indiana Jones installment, which managed to be a bit better (read: Mutt-less) compared to the still entertaining end result. Now, it appears that the original draft for Hancock -- long titled Tonight, He Comes -- has popped up by way of Jeff Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere (read it here). Oh, and if it's authentic, it happens to be missing the next-to-last page.

I've found the behind-the-scenes hearsay -- conveniently summed up in this NY Times piece -- on this film to be fairly fascinating. First, as scripted by Vy Vincent Ngo, Tonight had made the rounds as a reportedly hard-R superhero drama that capitalized on the somewhat sexual nature of the title. However, it seems once Will Smith was brought on board, Sony saw fit to tame things down considerably.

Even as recently as April, the MPAA had twice handed them an R instead of the sought-after PG-13, and now the finished result runs a choppy 92 minutes -- distinctly shorter than indicated in AICN test screening reports which made particular mention of a subplot involving statutory rape. Of course, as Wells brings up, it's hard to ignore the involvement of producer/screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, whose recent work on Smith's last hit, I Am Legend, had a similarly slapdash second half at the compromise of the original material.

I've yet to get more than a couple of pages into this thing, but do you guys think this is the real deal, and if so, do you guys think that this is the real film compared to what's on thousands of screens this week?

I'm still pumped from the first pic of Will Smith's upcoming movie, I Am Legend (out 12/14). Now I'm supposed to already get ready for his next next blockbuster, John Hancock? Of course. This is the way the web works. This is why we now have some photos to show you from the set of a movie that doesn't come out for another year (Smith is returning to his usual Independence Day release date, July 2, 2008). The pics, courtesy of Just Jared, show Smith looking like a bum, holding a bottle of whiskey and hoisted up in a harness, presumably so his down-on-his-luck-superhero character can appear to fly or jump. I'll tell you something: I already thought the movie's plot was more suited for early '90s-era Damon Wayans, and now these images reinforce my opinion.

Really, though, I love Smith and I'm sure I'm going to love this movie, even if I am sick of superhero premises (wasn't My Super Ex-Girlfriend overkill for these non-comic-book-adaptation super flicks?). The plot involves a superhero who falls out of favor with the public because he does more damage than good (just like John McClane?). And so he hits the bottle. Then a PR guy (Jason Bateman) comes to the rescue and offers him some free image consultation as payback for having once been saved by the hero. But superdude screws up his image further by hooking up with the PR guy's wife (Charlize Theron). Oops. Who wants to bet me that PR guy ends up being some kind of supervillain? Nah, that would be too easy. Stay tuned for more photos and other goodies from John Hancock, and don't be surprised if we get something on Smith's next next next (possibly Time Share), before this one hits theaters next summer.