Lionsgate has released the teaser trailer for Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic book Kick-Ass. The independently produced film stars Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong, Xander Berkeley, and Nicolas Cage. Read the full story

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?

After their collaboration on the upcoming Kick-Ass is appears that director Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake)  is in talks to direct Mark Millar’s American Jesus. According to the Hollywood Reporter the  film is set for an early summer release date.  The story is a modern retelling of the Jesus Christ story that builds up to an epic confrontation between the main character Jodie Christians0n and the antichrist. You can check out the first issue of the comic at newsarama.

I’ve never read the comic, but it sounds like an interesting premise. I’m a fan of Vaughn so I’ll definitely keep my eyes on this film and check it out when released.

What do you think of American Jesus?

Famed comic book writer Mark Millar (Wanted) has been claiming for a while now that he was interested in writing an 8 hour Superman trilogy. He also claimed that he had a big hollywood director interested in doing it. Well now apparently his dream project is dead. He admitted so on his website by stating:

“Warner’s talked to us and a few other writer/ director teams, but things seem to be in stasis right now. As far as I understand, nothing is happening with Superman at the moment and so the director and I are just working on another project. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, no biggie. Kick-Ass taught me that creating your own stuff can be at least as much fun and you don’t have to answer to anyone. It’s the future, baby.”

Warner Brothers seems to be very unsure, and they should be, about what they should do with Superman. Should they reboot it? Or let Bryan Singer (Valkyrie) the man who some claim screwed up Superman with Superman Returns do it? I personally  want Bryan Singer to return. Yes, I do believe Superman Returns is a heavily flawed movie, but its still a good one in my eyes. I also think Singer has proven himself to able to make a better sequel, just go back and watch X-Men 2. Though I can’t lie, Mark Millar’s planned Superman trilogy did sound pretty great.

Would you want Bryan Singer to return? Or would you rather see a re-boot?

- Jack Giroux