'Hancock' Sequel Hires Writers

Tuesday

25Aug2009

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 5:44AM

Director Peter Berg was talking up the possibility of a Hancock sequel recently. It was last year's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - more than any other summer movie, it skated by on what it should have been rather than what it was. A Will Smith superhero movie would naturally sell tickets, and that one did. So will the sequel.

It's being reported that Columbia has hired Adam "Pontiac" Fierro and Glen Mazzara to write what, from now on, we'll call Hancocked. Smith will return, Berg would probably do it, too, and the rest of the producing army is supposed to remain in place. It's not news that they're investigating a sequel, although I didn't expect to see an announcement quite yet.

This may sound crazy at first, but I think the best thing possible here is to bring everybody back, Smith, Berg, the lot of 'em. Why? Because there's really something at work in Hancock - and even in Smith's performance - that can turn into a good movie without too much effort. The basic idea of the character is good. So if done properly, Hancocked might figuratively save the day. And who better to get the film back on track than Smith and Berg? They can learn from their mistakes, and based on their careers, have done so with pretty good results.

Having said that, Berg's proposed sequel, which had something to do with another god out there somewhere for Hancock to fight, doesn't take us where we need this follow-up to go. I think a smaller, more dramatic film with a big finish would be better than all the effects the first movie gave us.

And that's the problem: The first movie made over $600 million around the world. If you're Columbia, Berg, or Smith, you don't neccessarily look at this project the way the rest of us do, as something that just got sidetracked. They probably look at it as a winning formula, when that's only about 25% true.

Colin Boyd |

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Hancock,

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