Lionsgate, Paramount and Universal are competing to buy Mark Millar's creator-owned title “Kick-Ass” after Comic-Con presentation of comic-book adaptation has generated a ton of interest.
Director Matthew Vaughan (Stardust) financed independently after some studios found the project's violence too graphic and some of its dialogue too profanity-laced.
Sony were initially onboard, but Vaughn split with the studio over creative differences; they wanted to turn the character of Hit Girl (who is 11-years-old in the comic) into a teenager, for example.
Kick-Ass is a Marvel Comic Book that follows a high school dweeb named Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson). Lizewski decides to become a superhero, even though he has no athletic ability or coordination. Things change when he eventually runs into real bad guys, with real weapons. Nicolas Cage plays a former cop who tries to bring down a drug lord and has trained his daughter (Chloe Moretz) to be a lethal weapon. The flick is also supported by Nicolas Cage, Lyndsy Fonseca, Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Clark Duke.
The film is targeting an early 2010 release date. [source: Risky Biz Blog]
Nice to see Vaughan’s got balls, and didn’t give in to Sony’s stupid demands.
If we’re going for a teenage Hit Girl ,why not just cast Megan Fox and get it over with.