Original Script for 'Hancock' Leaks Online
Filed under: Action, Drama, Sony, RumorMonger, Scripts, Comic/Superhero/Geek
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?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-03-2008 @ 5:33PM
Peter Hall said...
Seems like all I ever do is read about movies, but I was clueless as to the dark nature of the original script. Further more, I recall nothing of its recent R rating hurdles even after the design committee. And yet, the most curious thing of all is that each and every time I've been informed of such things, they've been at your colloquial hands, Messr. Goss. You're like a Hancock info pixie.
Now I've got to add this to the back of the original screenplays reading list, right beyond Darabont's Indy and The Green Effect.
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7-03-2008 @ 5:35PM
William Goss said...
"Pixie" is my third middle name -- the other two are "Danger" and "Rodrigo."
7-03-2008 @ 11:12PM
Kyle said...
Akiva strikes again.
Seriously, that guy shouldn't be allowed to touch a script. Completely ruins Da Vinci Code for no reason. Then destroys I am Legend. Now, he destroys Hancock.
Well, at least Angels and Demons is okay. Oh wait....
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7-04-2008 @ 12:24AM
Riley Freeman said...
i think anything would have been better than the current movie. hancock sucks. i want my money back
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7-04-2008 @ 12:25AM
Riley Freeman said...
to add to that yes anything that was darker would have been better. they definitely tamed it down wayyyyyy too much and turning it into a love story. wackkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
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7-04-2008 @ 3:08AM
Jeff said...
I saw a test screening of Hancock back in March, when it definitely would have been rated R. There were many more f-bombs, but the most surprising was a scene only mentioned in Jay and Silent Bob conversations. Hancock picks up a girl at a bar, takes her back to his trailer, and they begin to mess around. When it becomes apparent that they are going to do the deed, Hancock warns her that when "it" is going to happen, she needs to "watch out." The scene cuts to the outside of the trailer, which is rocking back and forth violently. Suddenly, inside the trailer, you see the woman fly across the screen and land on the couch (seemingly across from where they were going at it), bouncing because of the force. Then finally, we cut to the outside of the trailer, looking down at the roof when all of the sudden, several holes are punched through the roof (looking like big gunshots). Light beams from inside the trailer shoot through the holes, and it gives a whole new meaning to the film's original title, "Tonight, He Comes." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Big Willie Style agreed to allude to his superload in a movie. I hope this gets put back in on the eventual unrated dvd release!
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7-04-2008 @ 3:15AM
William Goss said...
This is gonna sound strange, but that was pretty much exactly what I was hoping to hear.
7-06-2008 @ 1:23PM
Pam said...
I read the entire script up to the missing ending, and if this really is what Hancock was supposed to be, then they messed this up even more than I Am Legend. I can recognize the basic human characters, but every single one of them has been changed, some deleted and forget the last third of the movie. The only thing they did right was to change the title. Is this the real deal? Possibly. This is very, very dark stuff and I don't think Will Smith is that daring hence the massive story change. Even if it's released restored, as Jeff hopes, it still won't come close to this original tale.
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