The rumor mill has been awfully quiet on Hancock recently, despite everybody and their mother predicting megabucks upon its July 4th weekend release. But there's at least this: in an apparent attempt to take after Iron Man, which did the same thing back in May, Hancock will be hitting some US theaters a few hours early.
If you'd like, you'll be able to see the Will Smith superhero comedy -- which, by the way, finally got its PG-13 rating from the MPAA after wrestling with the dreaded R for a little while -- starting at 7 pm on July 1st, rather than the previously scheduled July 2nd.
This is an interesting strategy, because I had always thought that the idea behind midnight shows (which I assumed were exhibitor-initiated and studio-condoned) was to build excitement and ramp up the opening weekend frenzy. "The 7 pm show" just doesn't have the same ring to it, and lining up at 6 instead of 11 doesn't seem as fun. At the same time, if Sony creates sneak peek hysteria and sells out every show between 7 and midnight on July 1st, that's money in the bank. And after all, no one can argue with Iron Man.
[hat tip: Slashfilm]
1. i love the idea of this movie. hope it's a good one.
Posted at 12:23AM on Jun 16th 2008 by lou mal jr