Hancock is a superhero film directed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron. The story was originally written by Vincent Ngo in 1996 and had languished in Hollywood for some time. The project has had various directors attached, including Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow, and Gabriele Muccino. Hancock was originally intended to be filmed before I Am Legend, also starring Will Smith. Hancock was filmed in Los Angeles. In the United States, the film was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America after changes were made at the organization's request in order to avoid a "restricted" (R) rating, which it had received twice before. The film was widely released on July 2, 2008 in the United States and the United Kingdom.

John Hancock (Will Smith) is an unhappy, alcoholic superhero who is living in his own world. He has saved numerous lives in Los Angeles over the years, but in doing so has caused widespread property damage costing the city millions of dollars. The public has had enough of Hancock, and want him to either stop or move to another city. One day, Hancock saves Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), a public-relations spokesperson whose attempts to market his world-changing "All-Heart" charity aren't gaining traction, from being run over by a train. Ray feels he owes Hancock his life, and he makes it his mission to change Hancock's public image for the better.

Ray persuades Hancock to go to prison so that the public will realize how much they need him. He reluctantly agrees and after a month the Chief of Police calls him to help save an officer who is pinned down in a bank robbery shootout. Hancock saves the officer, removes the gang, and cuts the hand off the leader (Eddie Marsan), who is holding a dead man's switch on a detonator.

After the rescue, Hancock becomes popular once more, as Ray had predicted. Ray and his wife Mary (Charlize Theron) go out to lunch with Hancock, where he relates how he woke up 80 years earlier with no memories of his life. While Ray sleeps after passing out from drinking too much, Hancock discovers that Mary has super powers like him.

Mary reveals that they are members of an ancient race and are at least 3000 years old. The race eventually died out because of their weakness which causes them to lose their powers when in close proximity to one another. Members of this race were created in pairs, and are inevitably drawn towards each other. She is Hancock's "other half".

Mary and Hancock have a brief fight over revealing this fact to Ray, inadvertently doing just that in the process. Hancock starts to lose his powers, and is shot twice in the chest when he attempts to stop a liquor store robbery. When he is admitted to the hospital, the news media covers it, thus revealing his location. Shortly before this the news had also revealed that the one handed robber had escaped, along with two other men, who Hancock attacked his first day in prison (He shoved one man's head up the other's rear end). The three villains converge on the hospital and Mary is shot while attempting to protect Hancock. Hancock finishes off the two henchmen, but is still severely wounded. Just as he is about to be killed, Ray grabs a fire axe and chops the robber's other hand off, thus saving Hancock. To save Mary, Hancock leaves the city, restoring both their powers. The film ends with Hancock accepting his role as a hero and living in New York City, and letting Ray and Mary live a normal life, while remaining their friend. He calls them on the phone one evening as they walk along the Santa Monica Pier and has them look up to the sky. He has painted Ray's All-Heart logo on the moon as a thanks.

Will Smith as John Hancock, an alcoholic, down-and-out, incredibly sarcastic superhero. He is invulnerable, does not age, possesses superhuman strength, and can fly at supersonic speeds. To give a realistic appearance of superhero flight, Smith was often suspended by wires 60 feet above the ground and propelled at 40-50 miles per hour.

Jason Bateman as Ray Embrey, a corporate public relations consultant whose life Hancock saves. Bateman said, "[It] was a fun thing to play, a very idealistic guy that's trying to build up this suicidal, homeless alcoholic that then ends up hitting on my wife. It was a fun thing. To play the victim is funny."

Charlize Theron as Mary Embrey, Ray's wife.

Screenwriter Vincent Ngo wrote the spec script Tonight, He Comes in 1996. The draft, about a troubled 12-year-old and a fallen superhero, was initially picked up by director Tony Scott as a potential project. Producer Akiva Goldsman came across the script, which he had considered a favorite, and encouraged Richard Saperstein, then president of development and production at Artisan Entertainment, to acquire it in 2002. Director Michael Mann was initially attached to direct Tonight, He Comes, but he instead opted to direct Miami Vice (2006). Eventually, Artisan placed the project in turnaround, and it was acquired by Goldsman.

Screenwriters Vince Gilligan and John August performed rewrites of Ngo's script, and Jonathan Mostow was attached to direct the film. Under Mostow's supervision, a 10-page treatment was written to be pitched to actor Will Smith to portray the lead role in the film. Both Mostow and Smith were not yet committed to make the project an active priority at the time. Several studios pursued the opportunity to finance the film, and Columbia Pictures succeeded in acquiring the prospect in February 2005. A second draft was scripted by Gilligan following the finalization of the deal with Columbia. The film was initially slated for a holiday 2006 release.

In November 2005, Mostow and Smith committed to Tonight, He Comes, with production slated to begin in Los Angeles in summer 2006. Smith had set up a pay or play contract to film I Am Legend (2007) under Warner Bros. after completion of Tonight, He Comes. Mostow eventually departed from the project due to creative differences. Italian director Gabriele Muccino filled Mostow's vacancy in May 2006. Since Muccino was busy editing The Pursuit of Happyness starring Smith, which Muccino had directed, Smith switched projects to film I Am Legend first for its December 2007 release, and then film Tonight, He Comes afterward. Later in the month, Muccino left the project because of an incompatibility with filming the story. Since Muccino was preparing The Pursuit of Happyness, the studio had delayed the production start for Tonight, He Comes to summer 2007, enabling Warner Bros. to begin production of I Am Legend with Smith.

In October 2006, Peter Berg was attached to direct Tonight, He Comes with production slated to begin in May 2007 in Los Angeles, the story's setting. Berg was midway through filming The Kingdom when he heard about the film and called Michael Mann, who had become one of its producers. The new director compared the original script's tone to Leaving Las Vegas (1995), calling it "a scathing character study of this suicidal alcoholic superhero". The director explained the rewrite, "We thought the idea was cool, but we did want to lighten it up. We all did." Before filming began, Tonight, He Comes was retitled John Hancock. The film title was eventually shortened to Hancock. Filming began on Hancock on July 3, 2007 in Los Angeles, having a production budget of $150 million. Locations like Hollywood Boulevard were designed to look damaged, having rubble, overturned vehicles, and fires. Smith's character is also an alcoholic, so for scenes in liquor stores, the art department designed fake labels such as Pap Smear Vodka for the bottles because "brown-bag brands" like Thunderbird and Night Train refused to lend their names.

Hancock was Peter Berg's first film with visual effects as critical cinematic elements. He considered the computer-generated fight his least favorite part of the film, citing limited control in making the scene successful. According to the director, "Once the fight starts, you're very limited and you're at the mercy of your effects guys... unless they're really technically oriented, that it's definitely the time we have the least amount of control as directors." He and other filmmakers worked to cut down on the fight scene, believing that the film's success would come from the character study of Smith's character, John Hancock, similar to Robert Downey Jr.'s acclaimed portrayal of Tony Stark in the previous May's release, Iron Man. The director said if Hancock pulls in as much business as predicted, a sequel, Hancock 2, would likely follow.

The New York Times noted that Hancock's original story and controversial subject matter present a stark contrast to "a summerful of sequels and animated sure shots" and represent a gamble for "an increasingly corporate entertainment industry". Hancock had been reviewed by the Motion Picture Association of America twice, and both times received an R rating instead of the makers' preferred PG-13 rating to target broader audiences. Questionable elements for the MPAA included Smith's character drinking in front of a 17-year-old and the character flying under the influence of alcohol. One element that was removed from the film to appeal to the MPAA was statutory rape. With such elements, studio executives only became comfortable with Hancock when the marketing approach focused on action and humor. Berg noted, "The ad campaign for this movie is much friendlier than the film." The MPAA ultimately gave the film a PG-13 rating, citing "some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence and language".

Hancock was originally titled Tonight, He Comes and later changed to John Hancock before settling on its current title. Marketing consultants attempted to persuade Sony Pictures to again change the title Hancock because it was too vague for audiences, suggesting alternatives like Heroes Never Die, Unlikely Hero, and Less Than Hero. Despite the advice, Sony stayed with Hancock and anticipated marketing on the popularity of the film's star, Will Smith.

Hancock had its world premiere as the opener at the 30th Moscow International Film Festival on June 19, 2008. To avoid copyright infringement, organizers undertook "unprecedented" steps to prevent illegal reproduction of the film.

For the film, Sony created a digital camera package (DCP) having 4K resolution, containing four times more information than the typical DCP that possessed 2K resolution. Projectors for the higher-resolution package have been installed in 200 theaters in the United States with two dozen in evaluation. The impact of the package has been debated, with one argument being that the difference is not noticeable and the counter-argument being that the higher resolution has future value.

For the film's opening five-day weekend, several estimates were made. On the low end, $70 million to $80 million was expected with the Fourth of July weekend cited to draw families outdoors instead of in theaters. Some consumer tracking surveys reflected the likelihood of exceeding $80 million in the opening weekend, while some analysts predicted a weekend of over $125 million. The company Projector instead estimated a target $90-100 million weekend, citing the lack of a built-in audience for the original film. Hancock was shown in advance screenings on July 1, 2008 in 3,860 theaters in the United States and Canada, grossing $6.8 million. The film was widely released on July 2, 2008, expanding to 3,695 theaters.

Hancock has received mainly poor to average reviews from film critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 36% of critics gave the film positive write-ups, based upon a sample of 151, with an average score of 5.3/10. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 49, based on 37 reviews. The movie received an average score of 62.1% from 55 film critics according to Movie Tab.

Some critics reported that the film was a jumble of ideas that, despite starting well, did not fully deliver the edgy satire the subject matter promised, with a general consensus forming that it suffered from a weak story and poor execution. Todd McCarthy of Variety felt that the film's "intriguing" premise was undermined by the execution. McCarthy believed the concept was enough to ensure the film was "amusing and plausible" for its first half, but that the second half was full of illogical story developments and missed opportunities. Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter said the opening established the premise well, but that the film came undone when it began to alternate between comedy and tragedy and introduced a backstory for the title character that didn't make sense. Farber said that the film rewrote its own internal logic in order to pander to its audience. Stephen Hunter in The Washington Post said it had begun with promise, but that the change in tone partway through was possibly the strangest in the history of film, and so abrupt that the film did not recover. Jim Schembri of The Age said the change in direction was "an absolute killer story twist", and David Denby of The New Yorker said it lifted the film to a new level.

Berg's direction was praised by Jim Schembri, who said that it helped to sell the "well-drawn" backstory for the title character. Todd McCarthy said the gritty visual approach adopted by Berg did not mesh well with the "vulgar goofiness" of certain scenes, and Stephen Farber said that Berg's frantic direction compounded the storytelling errors. Stephen Hunter said that what was supposed to be a dark comedy and subversive satire was instead played straight by the director, who he said had not understood that the shifting tone and plot twists were meant to be humorous. David Denby said Berg's style—restless, yet focused intently upon the characters in tight close-ups—was intended to showcase "genuine actors at work", and Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said Berg had taken the title character to heart and brought gravity to the film.

David Denby said Smith's performance as Hancock was in contrast to his performances in previous films. He said, "For the first time in his life, Will Smith doesn’t flirt with the audience. He doesn’t smile and tease and drawl; he stays in character as a self-hating lonely guy." Stephen Hunter said Smith—and his co-stars—had misunderstood the material in the same manner as Berg. He added that the examination of Smith's character came across at first as an examination of the societal place of black sporting superstars, such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal—"phenomenally gifted" men who nevertheless were "marginalized", "dehumanized" and exploited as a product. Manohla Dargis said in underplaying the character, Smith had gotten to the heart of him, and she was struck by Theron's performance, saying that she enabled Smith to deepen the film's emotional complexity. Jim Schembri said that after the strong box office performance of I Am Legend, Smith had again "struck gold". Todd McCarthy said that Smith's "attitude-laden quips" helped to carry the film's superior first half, and that all three leads performed capably, but he said no opportunity was offered for the supporting characters to register. Roger Ebert writing in the Chicago Sun Times praised the three leads, saying that Smith avoided playing Hancock "as a goofball" and instead portrayed him as a more subtle and serious character. Stephen Farber said that Hancock was a good showcase for the leads, saying that Smith shone in a film that was only sporadically worthy of his performance.

Jim Schembri concluded that the film was "refreshing, savvy, fun and fast". He said it managed to mix comedy and action successfully, and that the drama came across as surprisingly genuine. Stephen Farber believed the extended development of the film by numerous writers and directors had reduced its quality, but said the visual effects were "stellar" and showed wit. McCarthy praised the effects, but said the film was "both overwrought and severely undernourished." Roger Ebert said the film was "a lot of fun", and Manohla Dargis concluded that Hancock was "unexpectedly satisfying". She said that while it faltered and felt rushed towards its "chaotic" end, it had an emotional complexity and "raggedness" that spoke with sincerity about essential human vulnerabilities. Stephen Hunter concluded that Hancock was ultimately "indigestible".