Will Smith plays a down on his luck superhero in the upcoming film John Hancock (According to IMDB the working title is Tonight, He Comes). The film also stars Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron as Smith’s sort-of love interest. Theron is married to Bateman in the film, and IMDB says that Smith’s superhero has a “questionable” relationship with her character. It might be more of a flirtation than a full blown affair:

A hard-living superhero (Smith) who has fallen out of favor with the public enters into a questionable relationship with the wife (Theron) of the public relations professional (Bateman) who’s trying to repair his image.

IMDB also includes the keywords “interracial relationship” with this movie, which isn’t something that would occur to me independently. I remember reading that Eva Mendez was chosen for Smith’s love interest in Hitch because American audiences would supposedly accept a Latina in a relationship with an African American guy, but a Caucasian wouldn’t fly. Can anyone remember an interracial relationship in a recent film that wasn’t the focus of the film – like it was just either matter of fact or secondary to the plot? There’s Monster’s Ball I guess.

About.com points out interracial relationships in films and tv shows like Hitch, Guess Who?, ER, Lost, My Name is Earl, Grey’s Anatomy and Will & Grace, and says that they’re becoming more commonplace, but most of those are TV examples. It still doesn’t seem common in movies.

Here’s an article at MTV news about interracial relationships in film.

Thanks to Splash News for these pictures of Smith on set in LA.