When the footage for Matthew Vaughn’s (Layer Cake, Stardust) adaptation of Mark Millar (Wanted) and John Romita Jr’s. ongoing comic book series Kick-Ass premiered at Comic-Con, the reaction was ecstatic, apparently bringing a standing ovation, due to it’s humor, violence, and who was committing the violence.  The only thing is, the film was financed independently for these reasons, as no major studio would want to fund a movie this unflinching in it’s content and style.  But now that the movie has been received so well by the Comic-Con crowds, studios want a piece of Kick-Ass.

The story of a teenager named Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a teenager who decides to become a superhero who he calls Kick-Ass, and must face a nemesis named Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and who also receives the help of an eleven year-old girl who calls herself Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz).

According to Risky Biz Blog (via /Film), Paramount, Lionsgate, and Universal all want the rights to distribute Kick-Ass, with it coming down to the highest bidder.  If I had to make a guess, I would go for either Lionsgate or Universal.  Lionsgate because they’re known for producing more graphic material than most other studios (Saw, Punisher: War Zone, Rambo) and this would seem like a good fit for their slate of properties.  Universal, on the other hand, were the people behind Wanted, another adaptation of a Mark Millar comic book series, which did very well for them, and which they currently have a sequel planned.  As for Paramount, I think they may be too “big studio” for a movie like this, and even though foreign distributors of a risky movie like Watchmen, most of that movies development came from Warner Brothers.  /Film also speculated that a March 2010 release seems likely, and as long as we get this movie soon enough and unedited, I’ll be happy.

Are you excited for Kick-Ass, and do you hope to see the movie as soon as possible?