Hollywood Man Peter Berg Shows Off His Battleship

Actor-turned-director Peter Berg has been discussing his latest projects with Latino Review and gave updates on Hancock 2, The Rundown 2 and even talked about why he dropped his planned remake of sci-fi classic Dune last month.

It’s been an interesting career for Berg who began in bit parts and supporting roles in a plethora of top films: from Copland to Collateral. Earlier this decade he switched from his acting day job to directing features. He is currently one of Hollywood’s most entertaining filmmakers. Scoring a massive hit with last year’s Will Smith anti-superhero actioner Hancock, he’s seemingly picking his next projects with glee. Next on the slate (after Lone Survivor) is the boardgame adaptation called Battleship.

Berg picked up the film back in May, but since that initial announcement cinephiles have been scratching their heads over how the simple boardgame might be converted into film. You can understand then how the decision to feature aliens (them again) instead of, er, a battleship, has been met with severe annoyance. Hence, the current charm offensive. Berg explained the change as:

“The idea of a film where America goes to war against China, or a movie where America goes to war against England or Australia or Japan, one of the countries that has a credible navy, felt like it would border on some kind of jingoistic American military exercise I couldn’t get my head around. I liked the idea of something larger than life and the challenge it presented.”

Fans of Hancock shouldn’t hold their breath for the sequel with Berg admitting it’ll take a bit longer than anticipated. Berg also mentions he’d love to re-team with The Rock and Seann William Scott for a Rundown sequel.

Tags: Battleship, dune, hancock, Lone Survivor, peter berg, The Rundown, will smith