It’s not every day that you exit the freeway to see a sign flashing:
CAUTION: GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSIONS…
But this is L.A. and the “gunfire and explosions” on an otherwise benign Saturday could be attributed solely to Hancock, a new feature film helmed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith and Charlize Theron.
Saturday, I worked downtown on another shoot and afterward came by Hancock’s set to witness the huge street stunt they had planned. Amid the high-rises of downtown, Hancock had taken over several streets—a flutter of activity at nearly 1 a.m.
An amazingly, huge crater “iced” with overturned cars had been created in the middle of the street. A water truck continually passed through wetting down the streets as cast, crew, and “looky-loos” waited on the rooftops of adjoining buildings.
With stunts like this, you really only get one shot—so they rehearsed over and over again until BAM! a huge explosion belched cars up into the air and down again as they slammed into each other and skidded every which way. The ensuing black smoke forced me to look away. (Glad I put those sunglasses on as protective eyewear!) When I looked back, a moment later, the street was a mess of debris and thrashed cars. Even to cast and crew and others alike, it was impressive.
Hancock follows a hard-living superhero (Smith) who, somewhat like Mr. Incredible, has fallen out of favor with the public. He looks to a PR rep, played by Jason Bateman, in hopes of repairing his image, but gets otherwise involved with the PR rep’s wife (Theron).
Director: Peter Berg
Expected Release Date: July 2, 2008 (USA)
Stars: Will Smith, Charlize Theron
Genre: Super Action-Drama
Company: Sony/Columbia Pictures
Scribes: Vincent Ngo, Vince Gilligan and Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman.
*Michael Mann is producing the film via his Forward Pass production shingle along with Smith's Overbrook Entertainment.
For updated info about Hancock, check http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448157/ or http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/john_hancock/
Cartoon image from The Incredibles
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