With production stalled on his big-screen adaptation of Marvel’s Thor, Matthew Vaughn is nevertheless still enamoured enough with comic books to move ahead with his next project, an adaptation of a comic by Wanted creator Mark Millar called Kick-Ass.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that the artist formerly known as McLovin’, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, is in negotiations to play the bad guy of the piece, while Vaughn has raised the $30 million required to make the violent flick himself.
Kick-Ass, written by Millar and drawn by John Romita Jr, tells the story of a high school geek who attempts to reinvent himself as a superhero going by the name of Kick-Ass. All this despite having no skills whatsoever – that’s until he runs into real bad guys with real weapons and a hidden ability to, well, kick-ass is discovered.
Mintz-Plasse is set to play the Red Mist, the son of an angry mobster who becomes Kick-Ass’s nemesis. The main character, aka Dave Lizewski, has yet to be cast – but we reckon that Michael Cera, if he’s not too graphic novelled-out after making Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim, would fit the bill.
Vaughn wrote the adaptation with his Stardust partner Jane Goldman and an autumn start date has been pencilled in.