Kick Ass 2 announcement coming soon

[Evil Twin]

Originally Posted by rashad

G.I. Joe Retaliation is directed by Jon M. Chu who directed Never Say Never and Step Up 2. And that film looks like a huge improvement over the 1st. I wish people wouldn't be so quick begrudge certain directors just because of their filmography.

You might as well say that we can't judge directors if their filmography is ruled off limits.

It probably doesn't matter though. To me, the time to strike was a while ago and there's been too much out in the superhero genre since to make a sequel seem all that exciting. Especially with a noticiably older Moretz.

[CConn]

Originally Posted by Evil Twin

You might as well say that we can't judge directors if their filmography is ruled off limits.

No, the problem is a lot of people don't understand what a director's job actually is.

They assume everyone's like Lucas or Cameron who write their own scripts, manage the overall production, and have full creative oversight.

But for most directors that's not the case at all. For most directors, you're nothing more than another hired crew member charged with brining someone else's story onto the screen under someone else's creative oversight.

I've seen movies with horrible scripts or casts or whatnot, but with great direction and visual flare. And that's usually due to what I've described above.

Now I haven't seen any of this guy's movies, so I can't say one way or the other, but what we should be judging is the actual technical direction of those films, not the quality overall or the plausibility of their scripts, or how well they're casted. Which is what everyone seems pay attention to.

[rashad]

Originally Posted by CConn

No, the problem is a lot of people don't understand what a director's job actually is.

They assume everyone's like Lucas or Cameron who write their own scripts, manage the overall production, and have full creative oversight.

But for most directors that's not the case at all. For most directors, you're nothing more than another hired crew member charged with brining someone else's story onto the screen under someone else's creative oversight.

I've seen movies with horrible scripts or casts or whatnot, but with great direction and visual flare. And that's usually due to what I've described above.

Now I haven't seen any of this guy's movies, so I can't say one way or the other, but what we should be judging is the actual technical direction of those films, not the quality overall or the plausibility of their scripts, or how well they're casted. Which is what everyone seems pay attention to.

Thank you Cconn that's basically what I was alluding to.

[Evil Twin]

Originally Posted by CConn

No, the problem is a lot of people don't understand what a director's job actually is.

They assume everyone's like Lucas or Cameron who write their own scripts, manage the overall production, and have full creative oversight.

But for most directors that's not the case at all. For most directors, you're nothing more than another hired crew member charged with brining someone else's story onto the screen under someone else's creative oversight.

I've seen movies with horrible scripts or casts or whatnot, but with great direction and visual flare. And that's usually due to what I've described above.

Now I haven't seen any of this guy's movies, so I can't say one way or the other, but what we should be judging is the actual technical direction of those films, not the quality overall or the plausibility of their scripts, or how well they're casted. Which is what everyone seems pay attention to.

No, I have a good handle on what a director actually does. He's the one on set that has a say in blocking, shot composition, and working with actors. Yeah, not every director is a visionary auteur with final cut, but most good directors are going to have an effect on a movie in some way. If they're nothing but a malleable toady, of course the movie is going to be a mess. If they have potential, it will come out in individual scenes or performances which can be pointed to. If it hasn't come out at all in 2 previous films, which for all we know the director had significant control over, why should it come out in a third film?

And perhaps he has shown some signs, I haven't seen those films. The reviews aren't reassuring though.

And, frankly, I think KA2 needs a director with some spine and vision because it could go wrong in a great many ways. Matthew Vaughn long-distance director isn't going to work. The director has to have some sense of tone and be able to work with the actors on set if there's any hope for the project.

[CConn]

Originally Posted by Evil Twin

No, I have a good handle on what a director actually does.

I apologize. I actually wasn't trying to infer that you yourself didn't know. Just saying why - as a general rule - people might not judge a director by his films.

He's the one on set that has a say in blocking, shot composition, and working with actors. Yeah, not every director is a visionary auteur with final cut, but most good directors are going to have an effect on a movie in some way. If they're nothing but a malleable toady, of course the movie is going to be a mess. If they have potential, it will come out in individual scenes or performances which can be pointed to. If it hasn't come out at all in 2 previous films, which for all we know the director had significant control over, why should it come out in a third film?

And perhaps he has shown some signs, I haven't seen those films. The reviews aren't reassuring though.

No offense, but if you haven't seen them, then you're really in the same boat as I. And personally, until I actually see otherwise, this guy's a clean slate in my book. He has as just chance to make a good movie as he does bad.

And, frankly, I think KA2 needs a director with some spine and vision because it could go wrong in a great many ways. Matthew Vaughn long-distance director isn't going to work. The director has to have some sense of tone and be able to work with the actors on set if there's any hope for the project.

I don't really know if the director will have to do all that much. The tone's already been set, Mark Millar will be involved for creative assistance...all you really need to do is follow the first film's blueprint.

Not that I'm saying a monkey could do it or anything, but it's hardly like he's making Lawrence of Arabia here.

[Evil Twin]

Originally Posted by CConn

I don't really know if the director will have to do all that much. The tone's already been set, Mark Millar will be involved for creative assistance...all you really need to do is follow the first film's blueprint.

Not that I'm saying a monkey could do it or anything, but it's hardly like he's making Lawrence of Arabia here.

There's no Nic Cage, no Mark Strong, a noticiably older Chloe Moretz, and is McLovin' able to shoulder a bigger load (presumably)? I think it's easy to underestimate how different a film it's already setup to be. KA2 is going to have to establish its own identity.

[DACrowe]

I don't think you can just "follow the first film's blue print." The first works because it is startingly original and clever. A retread would be disappointing. Not to mention they killed off two major characters, hinted at escalation and the fact that Chloe Moretz is no longer a little kid.

The sequel will need a deft and intelligent hand to work. Otherwise, the movie may suffer. Time will tell

[Chef Mikey]

I hope the sequel will be much better as the first one is hard to top

[JeetKuneDo]

Recent info:

A sequel to the baroque superhero adventure Kick-Ass had long seemed a fevered dream of the comic's creator Mark Millar, who has developed a notoriety for leaking "news" that is either conjecture or wishful thinking. So when Millar declared that Kick-Ass 2 would go into production this summer, we were a bit leery. However, with The Avengers showing there's still a serious love of superhero features among moviegoers, all the studios are looking to capitalize, and so Universal is moving forward on Kick-Ass 2 with Cry_Wolf helmer Jeff Wadlow usurping Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn, who is too busy developing X-Men: First Class 2 to return. Nonetheless, Vaughn will help produce the sequel, which is slated to shoot in London this September.

Comic Book Movie uncovered these and more details on Kick-Ass 2 while attending a panel discussion that included Wadlow, who gamely answered questions about the upcoming adventure. The writer-director revealed he penned the screenplay over the holidays, and sought to find a place where the first movie and the second graphic novel intersect. Like its precursor, Kick-Ass 2 will take some departures from its source material, Millar's comic of the same name, as Wadlow explains:

"I think the most important thing that's gonna' change from the Kick-Ass 2 comic to Kick-Ass 2 the movie was just really finding an emotional story to tell. Because what I certainly loved about the first film, and what I think elevated it above most comic book adaptations, is the heart and the emotion in the film. It was sort of my challenge as the filmmaker and storyteller to find something as emotional in the second film and I think we have some stuff that people are gonna' really respond to."

As to specifics, he hopes to play up Hit Girl's part, despite the fact that her story is "sidelined" in Millar's second book. As she gives up her superhero alter-ego in the comic, its story instead focuses on Kick-Ass and Red Mist's evolution to the Mother****er, a more vicious villainous incarnation. However, this approach may be problematic, as Moretz hasn't yet signed on to the sequel, though Wadlow says the two have met, she's read the script and is by his estimation, "very excited about what we're doing with Hit-Girl."

Kick-Ass stars Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are also said to be in talks, but it seems far more likely they'd be game to reprise their roles as their careers haven't exactly blown up as Moretz's has. Since her brazen breakthrough with pint-sized and foul-mouthed Hit Girl, the starlet delighted horror fans with Let Me In, and dazzled critics with Hugo. However, her most recent efforts aren’t faring so well. Dark Shadows tanked its opening weekend, accruing only $29 million, which smarts with a bloated budget of $150 mil. Plus this batty comedy—as well as the gritty coming-of-age tale Hick—were generally panned by critics. Could this urge her to return to the role that first won her such good will? Let's hope so, both because her upcoming Carrie remake is a risky venture, and because Kick-Ass 2 wouldn't be nearly as hard-hitting without her.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Chloe...s-2-31027.html

A couple weeks ago, we reported that Universal was close to green-lighting Kick-Ass 2 written and directed by Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down), and produced by Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn. At the Kapow! Comic Convention, Wadlow confirmed that shooting would begin in September. However, he added that Chloe Moretz had not officially signed on to reprise her role as Hit-Girl, which may be a bit of a problem since Wadlow had significantly expanded the character’s role from what it was in Mark Millar‘s comic series.

Speaking to the audience at Kapow! [via CBM], Wadlow says the movie will have more of an emotional story to tell (it doesn’t surprise me that Millar’s comic lacks one):

More than the emotions of the first movie, audiences really responded to Hit-Girl, and Wadlow talked about how the character has a much bigger role in his script than she does in the book:

If you’ve read the comic, you know, she gives up being Hit-Girl, which was a brilliant idea I thought on Mark’s part. It’s something I explore something quiet deeply in the movie because what happens in the comic is she sort of steps away from the story in many ways and she’s sort of sidelined while Dave is working with Justice Forever and Chris is becoming the Mother[frick]er. But I was quite interested in what happens to her when she’s not being Hit-Girl. Her story is a major, major part of the film and she’s excited about the ideas and we’re in talks.

It would be great to see Moretz return, but her career has exploded since playing Hit-Girl in 2010. In that time, she’s landed lead roles in Let Me In and Hick, and played major supporting roles in Hugo and Dark Shadows. Moretz is now set to lead the remake of Carrie, she might play the title character in the zombie film Maggie, and this summer she’s shooting a supporting role in the Dennis Wilson biopic The Drummer. Since Carrie already has a March 15, 2013 release date, that movie would have to shoot in late July-August if Moretz wants to do Kick-Ass 2. Of course, if Wadlow is so intent on Moretz returning, then he may have to push back the start date of Kick-Ass 2 to accommodate the talented young actress’ busy schedule.

http://collider.com/kick-ass-2-seque...moretz/167670/

[CConn]

Originally Posted by DACrowe

I don't think you can just "follow the first film's blue print." The first works because it is startingly original and clever.

A retread would be disappointing. Not to mention they killed off two major characters, hinted at escalation and the fact that Chloe Moretz is no longer a little kid.

The sequel will need a deft and intelligent hand to work. Otherwise, the movie may suffer. Time will tell

That doesn't make any sense. I'm talking about the movie's direction. Not it's writing. It's writing is what it is; it's an adaptation. Go read Kick-Ass 2 and critique whether you think it's a retread or not.

I'm talk about the visual elements of the film, the way the actors interact and portray the characters they're playing...that should be in the vein of the first film because it is a sequel.

All of the originality and freshness you speak of should be coming from the script, not necessarily the direction.

[JeetKuneDo]

Originally Posted by CConn

I'm talk about the visual elements of the film, the way the actors interact and portray the characters they're playing...that should be in the vein of the first film because it is a sequel.

Agreed. There should be a similar "feel" to it imo.

Here is an interview with Jeff Wadlow. I like this: "Mathew is intimately involved with KA2 as a producer...I speak with him for hours every day"

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^Vaughn being a hands on producer gives me a bit more confidence about the film being any good, there more he is involved the better in my eyes.

[flickchick85]

Yeah, it's worrying me that no one's mentioning Vaughn co-writing it anymore, though. I'm starting to think that part may have been misreport at first, because it's only been mentioned in one article that I'm aware of. My hopes for this will definitely be lowered if Vaughn wasn't at least involved with the screenplay.

[JeetKuneDo]

More from Millar. Some spoilery type stuff if you never read the comic:

Normally, Mark Millar is not the most reliable of sources, but since we recently confirmed the start date of production on Kick-Ass 2, we can lend a bit more credence to the comic writer’s comments in the following interview. Director Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down) spoke recently on the progress and tone of the sequel to Matthew Vaughn’s 2010 original hit, Kick-Ass. Millar expands on his comments quite a bit, including a candid talk about Wadlow being chosen as director, the use of Hit-Girl in the sequel, the return of the original cast (including Aaron Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and where the franchise will go from here. Some spoilers lay in wait ahead, but feel free to hit the jump as I’ll move the spoiler-free updates to the head of the line.

In a recent interview with Digital Spy at Kapow! Comic Con, Millar opened up a lot about Kick-Ass 2, including some major character-related plot points. Those await you further down the line, so let’s start with some non-spoilery bits. For a while, speculation had it that Vaughn would return to direct the sequel. Millar commented as follows:

“Matthew Vaughn chose the director about 18 months ago secretly because he knew he wasn’t going to be doing Kick-Ass 2 since he had taken on the X-Men franchise. For a little while, a few weeks, it looked like he might do Kick-Ass 2, but they poured a bucket of money over him to do X-Men instead.

“Jeff Wadlow had been talking to Matthew about doing this move Bloodshot a couple of years back and Matthew was really impressed with his script. He’d done a couple of movies on a small budget, and Matthew was like ‘trust me, this is the guy’.

“So the three of us have been talking seriously for about eight months, and Jeff turned in a final draft of the screenplay about eight weeks ago. It’s in really nice shape to start shooting in eight or nine weeks’ time.”

Millar further commented on the state of the original cast returning for the sequel:

“As far as we know everyone is scheduled to come back, unless somebody is hit by a bus or something. Chloe has a busy schedule but she has to stop sometime.”

The next bits get a tad spoilery, so if you haven’t read the comics or simply don’t want to know about the plot points involved in the sequel, turn back now!!!

Millar next commented on the level of violence that he thinks Kick-Ass 2 will get away with:

“Every horrible scene in the book will be in the film. The c**t line in the first one, everybody said ‘there’s no way you’re getting that in the movie’, but it happened and it’s the same thing with this. Everybody is saying ‘you can’t have a gang rape scene with supervillains’ and ‘you can’t have the dog’s head cut off’, but every single one of those scenes will go in it.”

This may be the biggest spoiler as pertains to the movie plot:

“Hit-Girl will be the first 30 minutes of the movie and then the next 70 minutes is Kick-Ass 2. So Hit-Girl is structured as the first act.”

As for the other characters in the film, Millar was asked about Mintz-Plasse taking up the mantle of The Mother****er and whether he’d be up for it:

“Totally! The thing I love about it is there was a movie I saw years ago called Once Upon a Time in the West, and Henry Fonda, who is the nicest all-American actor of that era shoots a child at the start of that film, and you’re like ‘oh my God’, because it’s Henry Fonda. If you saw somebody who is a bad guy, like a Lee Van Clief type, doing that it’s not nearly as shocking.

“So to see the guy you know as the charming McLovin doing awful things, it’s going to be doubly upsetting, and that was always the plan. He’s a very, very underrated actor. I think sometimes if you do comedy, people don’t accept that you are a serious actor, but he’s one of those guys who can turn his mind to anything.”

Finally, Millar shared quite a bit about the future of Kick-Ass in both comic and movie form:

“The third book of Kick-Ass is the last book, there won’t be any more after that. Even though it’s the biggest book I’ve ever done, I’ve really always thought there’s an end in sight, so I plan on finishing it in a year’s time.”

“People who’ve read the comic will know that the second one ends on a cliffhanger. Hit-Girl’s been arrested and she’s in prison, Dave has lost his dad and he’s kind of destitute. The third one will be set two years later, and it’s about where their lives are now, picking it up from there.

“Hit-Girl has killed 80-something people by this point, so they’re never going to let her out. She’s like a tiny Myra Hindley.

“It’s basically illegal to wear a costume at this point, so that’s quite interesting. I used to love Marvel Comics where the cops were chasing superheroes, seeing them as menaces because they’re not licensed in any way. So I kind of like the idea of bringing that back, because in reality there’s no way a cop or a fireman is going to let a guy in a suit run into a building.

“I like the idea that after they have stopped a mugging they have to run away for the police. That old-fashioned superhero thing.“

Look for the sequel to Kick-Ass sometime in 2013.

http://collider.com/kick-ass-2-seque...millar/168088/

[Bruce Malone]

Sheesh you know millar loves the sound of his own voice.

[DACrowe]

I actually hope they don't keep the gang-rape from the book. It's too disgusting and done for shock value. Since Universal is now producing, they also may not think it's the best idea either. I also hope that it doesn't end with Hit-Girl going to prison as that makes exploring her character as an adult trying to live a normal life with the messed up childhood impossible and turns her into a imprisoned-celebrity.

So, I actually hope there are a lot of changes.

[flickchick85]

Originally Posted by DACrowe

I actually hope they don't keep the gang-rape from the book. It's too disgusting and done for shock value. Since Universal is now producing, they also may not think it's the best idea either. I also hope that it doesn't end with Hit-Girl going to prison as that makes exploring her character as an adult trying to live a normal life with the messed up childhood impossible and turns her into a imprisoned-celebrity.

So, I actually hope there are a lot of changes.

Agreed. There were major changes made in the first one (for the better, imo) - I hope they follow-suit in this one.

[JeetKuneDo]

Originally Posted by flickchick85

Agreed. There were major changes made in the first one (for the better, imo) - I hope they follow-suit in this one.

Agree with you and DA. The changes in the first movie did improve things (Damon being a big one)

I personally even think Red Mist's name change in KA2 was a bit silly...but it sounds like they are going with it. Maybe it will work when I see it.

[A Necessary Evil]

Originally Posted by flickchick85

Agreed. There were major changes made in the first one (for the better, imo) - I hope they follow-suit in this one.

[Sgt.Pepper]

Aaron Johnson, Chlöe Moretz & Christopher Mintz-Plasse Almost Signed for Kick-Ass 2; Nicolas Cage In-Talks for A Cameo Role

EXCLUSIVE: After Deadline revealed that Universal Pictures was stepping in to finance Kick-Ass 2 with Jeff Wadlow directing his script, the big question was whether the original Kick-Ass cast of Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, among others, would be back for an encore. There has been a lot of rumors lately that Johnson, who stars in the upcoming Oliver Stone-directed Savages, would leave and that other actors were being lined up for a recasting. This has been exacerbated by the fact that the original cast didn’t have sequel options, which meant that returning cast members from the Matthew Vaughn-directed 2010 original would require new negotiated deals. The original cost $28 million and grossed $103 million worldwide.

Here’s what I am hearing. Johnson is nearly done with his deal to reprise as the title character. Moretz in a similar situation as is Mintz-Plasse. Also in talks is Nicolas Cage to return in a cameo role (his reps say he has yet to receive an offer). There are several other star roles for new characters, and it’s sure looking like it will work out well for a fall shoot.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/univ...e-moretz-more/

Good news all around. And I hope Cage returns, even it's just a small cameo role.

[CConn]

Well, you know that Nick Cage literally will never turn down a role, so if they ask, he'll be in it.

[flickchick85]

Haha true, and he seemed quite fond of this role, so I'd be very surprised if he turned them down.

[A Necessary Evil]

Question is, how will he be brought back? Flashbacks?

[flickchick85]

As long as he doesn't appear in a mirror telling Hit-Girl to avenge him some more, I'll be happy.

[A Necessary Evil]

*Cue danny elfman music*