Comic book scribe Mark Millar took the stage at Wizard World Chicago to discuss the process of adapting his Kick-Ass comic book into a major motion picture directed by Matthew Vaughn, and ended up pleading with the audience for help.
According to Millar, securing funding for the film wasn't easy, due to the violent subject matter and course language. Fortunately, Millar's friend, director Matthew Vaughn, believed in the project and decided to champion it.
(Vaughn's) a good pal of mine, and he loved the book before it came out. He saw the scripts ahead of time because he likes to see what other pals are up to. And, he said, 'I really want to make this movie.' And, what I normally do with like Wanted is that we'll make the comic, and then an agent takes it out to all the whores in Hollywood, and they start bidding, and it's all out of your hands. Hopefully it all works out. Luckily Wanted did. It worked out good. But what happened with this is that it's very difficult material.
Unfortunately, Millar and Vaughn found that they couldn't retain the integrity of the source material and secure studio funding, so Vaughn took matters into his own hands, raising $50 million in investments so that they could make the movie the way they wanted to make it. Now, Millar is asking fans to help decide whether Kick-Ass receives a theatrical release or goes straight to DVD. After showing footage of Kick-Ass at Wizard World Chicago this weekend, Millar said:
If you can go on the internet immediately after this happens and just give your honest opinion — I'm pretty sure you'll like it because it's really well made and really well done — but that's the one favor I'd ask everyone. You may think it's shite. I hope you love it because we do.
Before leaving the stage, Millar was also asked about the rumors that he and Vaughn were conspiring to produce a sequel to Superman Returns. He said:
There was no interest in me, but they went to Matthew because he's a very well-liked Hollywood director. I love Superman, but Kick-Ass has been such an amazing experience that I realized I'd rather be George Lucas. We just go off and make our own movies and we own them ... that's the model I'd like to follow with future stuff.
Kick-Ass stars Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage and Chloë Moretz.