It was only a few days ago that we brought to your attention the trailer for Peter Berg's new terrorism ensemble piece The Kingdom, which counts among its cast Jason Bateman (better known to some as Michael Bluth on TV's brilliant** **Arrested Development, and to others as Michael J Fox's replacement for Teen Wolf Too). Well, clearly he and director Peter Berg get along like a house on fire – they also share a scene as actors in Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces – as they're pairing up for a third time, in the forthcoming Will Smith superhero flick Tonight, He Comes.
It centres around a superhero (Smith) who's let himself go a bit while suffering a mid-life crisis and an ever growing crowd of disillusioned fans. But even while lapsing in his course of duty, he saves a public relations executive (Bateman), who promptly goes about reviving the crime fighter's lagging image – even while the now hard-living, not-doing-so-gooder is hitting on his wife (Charlize Theron, we're assuming for now).
The project has been around for the best part of ten years, although Berg only signed on in October, replacing Gabriele Muccino, who in turn replaced Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3). The original version of the script was by Vincent Ngo, but it has since been redrafted by Vince Gilligan. Its producers include Smith, Michael Mann, and James Lassiter.
And Akiva Goldsman.