'Kick-Ass' Sequel Could Shoot Next Summer

Mark Millar gave an update about all things Kick-Ass to MTV News (while showcasing some preview images of the film's companion comic) and he says Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall has been given the studio blessing and it will go into production next summer, most likely. That's not hard to buy. Matthew Vaughn has to finish X-Men: First Class and then he'll bounce back over to this less powerful group of heroes. And then there's this: "[There's] massive pressure because Chloe [Moretz] is going to change physically quite dramatically over the next few years, so we have to do the sequel while everyone still looks like they're in high school." Yeah, here's the timeline: Kick-Ass shot in late 2008, when Moretz was 11. She'll be 14 when they do the sequel and probably 15 when it's released. So the rush is understandable. His version of accounting is a bit strange, however. Millar was also interviewed by BBC Radio Five Live and he trumpeted the total theatrical and home video grosses for Kick-Ass, which seem pretty high: "The estimate is [Kick-Ass] will do $100 to $150 million on DVD based on the American sales, you know, so it’ll end up making a quarter of a billion on a 28 million investment. So It should be okay." I have a hard time believing that number. First, the DVD/Blu-ray only made $10 million in its first week, and only $7 million in the two weeks since. Maybe the US market is only 20%, 15% of the worldwide figure, but based on the fairly even split theatrically between domestic and worldwide grosses, I can't see it doing $100 million. Plus, he's leaving out the distribution costs, which totaled about $60 million domestic and foreign combined, and it's not like Lionsgate and Universal don't want to make back their costs. Realistically, then, this is about $150 million, tops, of a $28 million initial production cost. Very good, yes, but not crazy money.