To anyone paying even a little attention to the film comics world, writer Mark Millar is notoriously unreliable. To the invested fanboys who have serious expectations, the man is a full-on liar. Whatever your take on the candid and forthcoming comic book writer, its undeniable that his track record is spotty (and that said, Millar seems to be aware and messes with fans, by just posting ridiculous claims on his website message boards; see the Orson Welles/”Batman” joke).
His latest claim (from MovieWeb) isn’t outrageous and in fact doesn’t seem out of the question, but most fans are viewing it with skepticism nonetheless. Millar says that after “X-Men: First Class,” director Matthew Vaughn will turn his attention back to “Kick Ass 2: Balls To The Wall.” And we can’t help but display some cynicism as well because he’s claiming an April pre-production start date. Shooting in August, “X-Men: First Class” will be rushing as it is to make its June 3, 2011 date (don’t be surprised if there’s a release date shift), so we don’t see April materializing at all. Also, while “Kick Ass” was a beloved geekboy hit, it didn’t exactly light up the box-office, only grossing $48 million domestically, but did take $96 million internationally (the budget wasn’t huge — $30 million — but there was a lot of P&A for the film that could have jacked that number). Let’s not forget that even actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse said Millar was talking out his ass spoke too soon when he said the sequel was scheduled for production in 2011 and a release in 2012.
Presumably still owned by the inexpensively operating Lionsgate, “Kick-Ass” is no “Saw” franchise (made for peanuts; generates a bundle that we suppose funds movies like this comic book adaptation).
There’s also the fact that “X-Men: First Class” will likely turn into a franchise if all goes well and while we haven’t heard reports on whether Vaughn has deals for future installments, its conceivable he’ll want to capitalize on its success and helm another, if it does boffo box-office business. After all, Vaughn did sign on for “X-Men: Last Stand” in 2005 and only bailed on the project after he thought the film was spiraling out of his control (he and Fox had creative issues).
Either way, Millar let most of the plot details out of the bag for the sequel and honestly it sounds a little unnecessary (and it centers around the Red Mist character played by Mintz-Plasse)
This is a guy who has had his entire family killed by Hit Girl. He heads off and develops his martial arts skills. He learns how to become a better villain. That type of thing. He is going to come back and wreck unholy vengeance on our team. But in reality, he just comes back and gets stoned, and he spends a lot of money. He can’t do anything, so he hires this bad ass girl from Russia, she comes into the story, and her plan is to kill Hit Girl. Red Mist becomes like Charles Manson. He goes on-line and influences a bunch of young villains to go against Kick-Ass and Hit Girl. The whole thing ends up as a big gang fight like you’d see in “The Warriors.” There is going to be a big gang fight in the middle of Times Square between all of these costumed heroes. And at the head will be the Red Mist and Hit Girl.
This writer enjoyed “Kick Ass” more than most Playlist writers (that’s also relative enjoyment), but it feels like a stand-alone piece despite the tacked on hinting-at-sequel ending. Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) going off to school to lead a normal life seems like a decent enough ending, but we’ll see down the road if a second film actually happens. Our guess is the studio waits at least half a year to tally the DVD totals (which is released today, Tuesday, August 3rd) and then decide whether they think a sequel is worth it or not.