With the release only a few weeks away, it's time to start getting excited for Hancock. And those of you who are particularly pumped have new reason to celebrate-- is Hancock will hit some theaters on July 1, a day before the previously announced release date of July 2. Slashfilm stumbled on that little bit if information while surfing ticket retailer Fandango, where they already have tickets on sale. According to Fandango and Movieticket.com listings, the film will officially start showing at 7:00 pm, and showings will continue right on from there.
Interestingly, the movie's official site lists release dates around the world for the film, and it still says the movie opens on July 2nd. Likely they simply didn't bother to update the site before giving ticket retailers the go-ahead, or they're hoping to keep the new advance release showings under wraps.
July 1 is a Tuesday, which means Hancock will be playing a six-day holiday weekend. Aren't you glad you get a six-day holiday? Wait, what's that? The rest of us only get Friday off? Sometimes I hate Hollywood and its fuzzy math.
There have been rumors floating around that Hancock might be a huge, stinking mess, but the fact is that a Will Smith movie, especially one opening on July 4 weekend, is a huge event. His last three films to open on that holiday weekend-- Men in Black, Men in Black II and, uh, Independence Day-- have all grossed over $50 million in their opening frame. It's becoming kind of an obnoxious habit for studios to open a film on a Thursday or even a Wednesday and count the inflated number as an opening weekend gross. That's how Indiana Jones gets away with making more money in its opening frame than Iron Man, even though Tony Stark did better on a day-by-day basis.
Given that Hancock has literally no competition opening in wide release, it will walk away a champion no matter what. Thanks to the July 1 early screenings, it can add a few extra millions to its total. Whether or not we come to resent that will probably depend on whether or not Hancock is any good.
