Hancock, this summer's Will Smith superhero movie, is apparently undergoing a tug-of-war between the filmmakers who want to keep it dark, dramatic and in line with the original script (which, when it came out was described as "brilliant, but unfilmable" which I can attest to, having read it) and the studio execs that want to pull in as big an audience as possible with a lighter, more humorous cut. As it stands now, the film, having twice gone into the ratings board and come out with an 'R' seems to be a bit darker than the currently running trailers -- you know, those light, humorous ones you keep seeing on TV -- imply. In fact, director Peter Berg has admitted that "The ad campaign for this movie is much friendlier than the film." With Sony head Amy Pascal adding, "It's scary in that it goes farther than we've gone before." Which I'm sure the parents who have already promised that their kids can go see it will really appreciate.

In order to go from an 'R' rating to the 'PG-13' that the studio so desires, a few scenes have already been cut or changed, among them a scene portraying statutory rape (that was in the film as recently as three weeks ago) and another where Smith's character was shown getting drunk with a 12-year-old (changed to a 17-year-old in the most recent cut). Despite these changes, Burg says that the film "remained surprisingly sexual, violent and true in spirit to an original script." Which, rather disturbingly, even he sounds surprised about.

Now, no one saying every film out there should be dumbed-down or kid friendly, and filmmakers endeavoring to stay true to their source material is admirable, but if advertising campaigns are enticing 3rd graders to carry around lunch-boxes with the faces of drunk, statutory rapists on them, there are probably going to be some phone calls.