Kick-Ass

Comic to Film

Background

Kick-Ass is a 2010 British-American

independent film based on the comic book of
the same name written by Mark Millar and
illustrated by John Romita Jr.
The film independently financed, produced and
directed by Matthew Vaughn.
The movie screenplay was by Matthew Vaughn
and Jane Goldman

Storyline

Dave Lizewski is an ordinary teenager who

sets out to become a real-life superhero who
goes by the name of Kick-Ass. He
inadvertently gets involved in a bigger fight
when he meets Big Daddy, a former cop who
plans to bring down crime boss Frank DAmico
and his son Chris. Big Daddy has trained his
eleven year old daughter, Mindy, to be a
ruthless vigilante called Hit-Girl.

Critical
Reception

The film did well at the box office despite

generating controversy over the amount of
swearing and extreme violence performed by
an eleven year old.
The film has subsequently developed a strong
cult following.
The original comic is harsh with scenes of
graphic violence which were toned down for
the movie. The movie received a 15 rating by
the BBFC

Previous
Vaugh/Goldman
Collaborations

Previous
Vaughn/Goldman
Collaborations

Getting the
Film Rights

The film is unusual as both the comic and the

movie were made side-by-side. Mark Millar came
up with the idea for the characters and sent two
scripts to producer Matthew Vaughn.
Vaughn read the first two scripts of the comic
book and loved them. He and Millar agreed to
work in parallel - Vaughn developing the movie
and Millar developing the comic books. The
rights to the comic were optioned by Vaughn.
From then on the two men worked
collaboratively.

Adapting the
Movie

What we had were Marks four initial scripts and the

structure that took into account where Mark was going
with the comic and where Matthew wanted the film to
go. It was an unusual situation in that we were
essentially adapting something that wasnt even in
existence yet. They developed side by side, which was
great.

Vaughn Reads
the Script

Writing the
Movie Script

Jane (Goldman) added all these brilliant lines

which humanized it... she really smoothes it out
for a mainstream audience and makes the
unacceptable, acceptable