The idea:
The idea behind the film Kick-ass was taken from the comic book Kick-Ass which is a creator-owned comic book series written by Mark Millar. The film was produced by Matthew Vaughn and co-produced by Brad Pitt, Vaughn also directed Kick-ass. The comic book was orginally written by Mark Millar, but the film was co-wrote with Jane Goldman and Vaughn himself. At first Millar had the idea to bring comic book to the big screen and thats where he met jane Goldman who then introduced him to Matthew Vaughn (with whom she co-wrote the film Stardust with beforehand). Millar then pitched the idea to Vaughn who loved it and they plotted the whole film together in one afternoon.Development Finance:
At first Kick-ass struggled to get a production company that would accept the script for what it was without any tweaks (such as decreasing levels in violence and swearing) in total seven production companys turned down the script before Vaughn released it through his own production company. The big studios also doubted the success of the adaptation as a violent superhero, which forced the film to be independently financed by Vaughn however this gave him the freedom to make the film the way he imagined, without having to worry about any sensoring. However, Vaughn also had the help of Brad Pitt, which then meant because Pitt owns a film production company (Plan B Entertainment) that holds a release deal with Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, Kick-ass now had a studio to film in.The film's budget was $30 million and its total income was approximately $96,188,903.
Script Development:
After meeting Vaughn, Millar then wrote a synopsis and then in parallel Millar wrote the comic and Vaughn wrote the script. This meant from the start Kick-ass was different from most other comic book movies, this was due to the fact the movie was in development at the same time as the comic book. Then, Vaughn wrote a first draft focusing on structure and story before Goldman added the dialogue and characterization, Goldman described her work with Vaughn as her job being the "construction work" and the "interior designing" while Vaughn acts as the "architect."
Packaging:
With the film deep in pre-production, Vaughn faced the scenario where he struggled to find an actor to fit the bill of 'Kickass' himself. In the struggle to find an actor to fit the character of Dave (Kickass) Vaughn almost had to pull the movie back six months, even though he had cast all the other roles. Then, Sarah Finn and Lucinda Syson (Vaughn's casting directors), encouraged him to take a look at a tape from a young actor called Aaron Johnson, which Vaughn had already previously turned down without viewing. Then after hearing Johnson read for the first time, Vaughn knew immediately Aaron would fit the role of Dave perfectly.Production:
As pointed out before Kickass was an independantly financed film due to the big studios doubt in the film's success. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, (Red Mist), said that the creators of the film were wondering whether a distributor would pick up the movie. On the set Vaughn jokingly referred to Kick-Ass as something that was going to be "the most expensive home movie I ever made." The filming locations for Kickass include Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Dip 'N' Sip Donuts on Kingston Road in Toronto, Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School, and "many Toronto landmarks that play cameos"; and various locations in the UK: Elstree Studios,
On the other hand, the 2D/3D animated comic book sequence in the film took almost two years to finish. Romita created the pencils, Tom Palmer did the inks, and Dean White did the colours.
Kick-ass recieved a 15 rating from the BBFC and received an R rating by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) for "strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and drug use (some involving children). In an interview with Total Film, Aaron Johnson confirmed that the film stays true to the adult nature of the comic series by featuring a large amount of profanity and graphic violence.
The production companies involved in the making of Kickass were Marv Films and Plan B Entertainment (owned by Brad Pitt) and the main distributors were Universal Pictures (UK) and Lionsgate Films (US) a full list of distributors and companies involved in the production of Kick-ass can be found on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1250777/companycredits
Sales:
Four different trailers altogether were released before Kick-ass premiered. They include the teaser trailer, the extended trailer and the international trailer. At first the teaser trailer caused some controversy due to the explicit language used by Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl) but they still went on to released a red band trailer which displayed violence and use of the line "Okay you cunts, let's see what you can do now," delivered by Chloë Grace Moretz, who was only eleven years old at the time of filming, this caused and upheaval by family advocacy groups for the use of violence and swearing. Along with this four TV spots were also released prior to the film being released,some fans said that too much footage was being seen too close to the release, however it still went on to be a huge hit in the box office and an even bigger hit in DVD and Blu-ray sales.
Teaser Trailer:
Extended Trailer:
International Trailer:
Red-Band Trailer:
Kick-Ass TV Spot - Story:
Kick-Ass TV Spot - Ordinary Heroes:
Kick-Ass TV Spot - Corridor:
Kick-Ass TV Spot: Big Four:
Marketing:
Kick-ass was initially marketed through it original comic-books (published by Marvel Comics under the company's Icon imprint), which a few issues were already in shops to buy and read before the film was released. It also had the usual marketing techniques of posters on buses, in magazines on billboards etc, TV, cinema and DVD trailers. But Kickass was marketed really heavily in its poster and trailer campaigns because it was expected to be a huge success even though it was being surrounded by huge controversy in the early stages of production and development. Kick-ass released four trailers altogether and four TV spots, which some would say is too much coverage and gave too much of the film away. Nevertheless, it still went on to be a huge hit. Some of the main actors also did promotional tours which is where film actors, directors, and producers appear for television, radio, and print media interviews, sometimes showing a clip from the film or an outtake and talking about the film and their role in it. Empire and Total Film magazine covered the film and it's journey from page to screen and film reviews are available on their websites too.The film was also pitched at San Diego Comic-con and the Empire magazine Movie-Con. Kick-ass also took to viral marketing on fan's blogs and websites which showed free distribution of trailers and also gave reviews. Kick-ass also had a test screening in London at the BAFTA which was hosted by the UK distributor Universal, the people that attended this were Universal staff and other European distributors and then a smaller minority being the general public. Exhibition:
A premier for Kick-ass was held in Leicester Square, London for the film, cast, directors, producers and screenwriters plus other special guests (including Brad Pitt). Kick-Ass made £3,881,704 (UK) on the opening weekend (4th April 2010) and it was shown on 402 cinema screens across the country and on 5778 screens across the world on the opening weekend alone.The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 3 August 2010 in North America, selling 1.4 million copies within its first week, one-third of these in Blu-ray format. Kick-Ass debuted at number one on the DVD sales chart and the discs were released in the United Kingdom on 6 September 2010.
Other Windows:
A video game produced by WHA Entertainment and Frozen Codebase was released through the App Store on 15 April 2010, then another game was released on PlayStation Network on 29 April 2010. Kickass was nominated for twenty-five awards altogether, eventually going on to win seven of them. It won Best British Film at the Empire Awards and Best Comic-Book Adaptation and Best Blu-ray at the IGN Awards. Young actress Chloe Moretz scooped the other four awards for her perfomance: one as Best Newcomer at the Empire Awards, one at the IGN awards for Best Actress and two at the MTV Movie awards for Best Breakout Star and Biggest Badass Star. "The costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows." -Synopsis. The same cast are due to return, plus a few new faces. Matthew Vaughn has chosen Jeff Wadlow, who also co-wrote the script along with Vaughn, to direct the sequel with filming planned to begin in September 2012.
Sources:
Wikipedia
IMDb
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