Hancock Pitch Meeting | Screen Rant
Screen Rant's own Pitch Meeting series makes its return with an episode targeting Hancock and Will Smith's against-type superhero performance. The 2008 film centers on John Hancock, an alcoholic superhero living in Los Angeles who holds a terrible reputation in the city for his reckless efforts creating millions of dollars worth of damage throughout the city. When Hancock save public relations consultant Ray Embrey, he finds the tides turning in his favor with the public, only to learn the dark secret by Ray's wife's past and how it ties to his own, of which he can't remember.
Smith leads the cast of Hancock alongside Jason Bateman as Ray, Charlize Theron as his wife Mary, Eddie Marsan as the villainous Kenneth "Red" Parker Jr., Johnny Galecki and Thomas Lennon. Directed by Peter Berg on a script from Vy Vincent Ngo and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, the film hit theaters in 2008 after languishing in development hell for over a decade to a generally mixed response from critics, with praise being aimed at its performances and unique concept, though criticism was directed towards its failure to capitalize on its better elements. Despite this, Hancock was still a box office hit, grossing over $629 million against its $150 million budget.
As the film nears its 14th anniversary, Screen Rant's Pitch Meeting series has set its sights on Hancock. The new episode spotlights the movie's narrative tonally jarring second half, its loose approach to the rules for its titular hero and Will Smith's seemingly against-type performance as a rude superhero. Check out the hilarious new episode below:
The ending of the new Hancock Pitch Meeting episode pokes fun at the now-infamous Oscars confrontation between Smith and Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke at his wife's expense regarding her alopecia condition, to which the Oscar winner responded by slapping Rock on stage. Details of the slap heard around the world continue to be uncovered, including the show's producer Will Packer revealing he thought the moment was staged, Smith reportedly refusing to leave after being asked and the LAPD being prepared to arrest the actor after the show. Rock has mostly remained silent on the matter, stating at a recent comedy show he wouldn't discuss the incident as he was still processing what happened and elected not to press charges the night of.
Outside of the joking reference to the Oscars moment, the Hancock Pitch Meeting episode highlights plenty of the film's flaws, including its second half feeling like a completely different movie, its imbalanced tone and lackluster ending. Despite its poor critical reception, the film has remained a fan-favorite with some holding out hopes for a sequel to be produced, including Charlize Theron and director Peter Berg, though the former has confirmed no progress has been made behind the scenes as of 2020. Audiences can revisit Hancock as it is available to stream on AMC+ and The Roku Channel now.