Sun Aug 17, 2008 — by Rick Marshall

"Kick-Ass" and Matthew Vaughn Go Indie

Gritty series turns away studios, so filmmaker goes solo

Filmmaker Matthew Vaughn recently announced plans to go the independent route with an adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s gritty series Kick-Ass after studios balked at the ages of the characters and the level of violence in the story.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Vaughn has managed to raise $30 million on his own, with many crediting his fundraising success to the recent fortunes raised by another adaptation of a Millar project, Wanted. Thus far, the cast of the film is likely to include Christopher Mintz-Plasse ("McLovin" in Superbad), who is in negotiations for the role of the film's villain, and Chloe Moretz (The Amityville Horror) who has signed on to play another pre-teen vigilante. The series' main character has not been cast at this point.

From THR:

 

Vaughn first brought the project to Sony, which distributed his "Layer Cake," but the studio balked at the violence, which he refused to tone down. Several other studios expressed interest but demanded that the protagonists' ages be upped. Vaughn, who most recently co-wrote and directed the international hit "Stardust," now is going it alone.

Production on the film is expected to begin next fall.

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