Kick-Ass and Alice in Wonderland both have new posters online today.  The one for Kick-Ass continues the theme of how Lionsgate is selling the film: This isn’t a superhero parody but just because it’s set in the real world, doesn’t mean it can’t have a comic book flavor.  It works for me, but I’m aching to get a red-band trailer so I can get a sense of whatever folks saw at Comic-Con that caused them to go insane.

The new poster for Alice in Wonderland is the second part of the triptych after the release of the first piece of on Monday.  I misunderstood the concept and thought Monday’s poster was stand alone because it looked awful.  Knowing that it was part of a set of three wasn’t any better but it at least explained why Alice (Mia Wasikowska) or The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) weren’t present in the design.  But now Part 2 has arrived.  It looks great and it would even if it weren’t part of a triptych.  Alice is centered in the frame, the trees are closing in on her, and you have The Mad Hatter deep in the background where he can’t steal the spotlight.  That’s my big fear: with a name as big as Johnny Depp, they’re going to make this The Mad Hatter in Wonderland.  Of course, we have yet to see part three and we won’t until the new poster has 9,000 likes on Facebook.  Hit the jump to see both of the new posters.

Posters which need to be grouped together to achieve their full effect kind of bug me.  Look at these, the first four posters to promote Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass”, arguably the biggest breakout of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.  I’m glad that the marketing campaign for the film has begun but will theaters devote this kind of space to four posters which leave out the actor’s names in favor of the character and their alter-ego?  I hope so because this movie needs to be on folks’ radar and I’m not sure if a poster saying “Mindy Macready Is Hit-Girl” with a purple-haired gal standing in front of “-A” will turn heads.  On second though, it might.  Just forget everything I said.  However, if you do see all four posters together in a theater and they’re out of order, please send us a photo.

Check out all four posters after the jump.  “Kick-Ass” is slated to hit theaters on April 16, 2010. [UPDATE: The official website is now online.  You'll see at the bottom  of the site that the trailer is set to debut online next Sunday at midnight.]

While some movie studios use Variety and The Hollywood Reporter to publish their press releases, Lionsgate is embracing new media in a big way as they’ve announced the release dates of “Kick-Ass” and “The Expendables” on Twitter! Very cool. According to Lionsgate, “Kick-Ass” is hitting theaters on April 16th, 2010 and “The Expendables” on August 20th, 2010. For more on the release dates…hit the jump:

As you may recall, last week we reported several studios were vying for the rights to distribute Matthew Vaughn’s adaption of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s “Kick-Ass” after a positive screening at last month’s San Diego Comic Con. Well it seems that the deal has been struck with Lionsgate committing to a wide 2010 release date for the privately produced and financed action-comedy flick. Pull on your tights, hop in the Mist Mobile and read more after the jump.

You can deride Comic-Con as just a big marketing-extravaganza and to some extent it certainly is.  Unless a presentation of “Iron Man 2″ turned out completely half-assed and slap-dash (and it wasn’t), people were going to go nuts for it no matter what.  What makes Comic-Con important is that it can build tremendous buzz for a mainstream film that’s trying to find a way to set itself apart from all the other big films that show at Comic-Con and throughout the year.  One of the film’s this year was “Kick-Ass”, a presentation that managed to out-shine the day’s earlier presentation of James Cameron’s “Avatar”.

So yeah.  There’s kind of a bidding war happening among the studios.  Hit the jump to find out what’s going down.

For my final interview from this year’s Comic-Con, I’ve got Clark Duke and Christopher Mintz-Plasse talking about their work in director Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass”. Well, that’s not entirely true, I really should say I try to get them to talk about “Kick-Ass”. But either due to me being friendly with the two of them, or due to backstage at Comic-Con being a very loose environment, this interview goes off the rails more than a few times. But, there is one highlight, about 5 minutes in, Kristen Bell comes over and decides to show her ass to the camera. She’s wearing clothes, but it’s still a very funny sight. She does it without the guys knowing and their reaction is priceless. Again, backstage at Comic-Con is a weird place….take a look after the jump:

If you were in Hall H at this year’s Comic-Con, one of the films that made a huge impact was director Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass”. While the film doesn’t yet have an American distributor, if the reaction to the footage is any indication, studios should bang down the doors to land the rights to this independent comic book movie. If the name “Kick-Ass” sounds familiar, it’s because the movie is based on the Mark Millar/John Romita, Jr. series with the same name.

Anyway, I was able to interview Chloe Moretz at this year’s Comic-Con and she talked about playing Hit Girl, working with Nicolas Cage, filming the action scenes, and if you watch till the end, you might see a surprise appearance by Clark Duke and Kristen Bell. Take a look after the jump:

A few days ago I posted a tweet saying that a test screening of Matthew Vaughn’s new comic-book movie “Kick-Ass” was scheduled for Thursday night outside of Los Angeles. Out of respect for the filmmaker and the film, I didn’t say where the screening was or how you could get in. But it’s not going to matter now as the screening was cancelled. So why would they cancel a test screening the day before it was set to go? Could it be Matthew Vaughn’s independent movie that doesn’t have domestic distribution is about to be sold? More after the jump:

A lot of you haven’t heard about director Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass”. That’s going to change over the next few days. The reason is, of course, Comic-Con.

On Thursday afternoon, Vaughn will be world premiering footage in Hall H from his independent comic-book movie, but with a cast featuring Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Clark Duke and Mark Strong, you have to wonder how long it’ll be an independent as some studio is going to buy this thing after the crowd goes crazy.

Anyway, I was recently in London and got a chance to speak with Aaron Johnson on the set of his latest film “Chatroom” and he talked about making “Kick-Ass” and a lot more. It’s after the jump so take a look:

Peter from Slashfilm is a good friend of mine. At least a few times a week we talk about upcoming movies, TV shows, what gossip each of us have heard, and anything else we might find exciting. Since a number of our conversations cover things you also might find interesting, we’ve decided to start recording certain conversations as video blogs.

With Comic-Con on the horizon (it begins this Wednesday), we thought it would be a good idea to talk about the convention — our predictions, a preview, a look at some of the most anticipated films (Tron 2, Avatar, Iron Man 2, Kick-Ass), thoughts on the past and the future of the con, possible surprises, some of the films which might not be appearing, and why its so damn important and cool.

So if you’re excited about Comic-Con, hopefully you’ll find this video blog a nice preview. Finally, we’ll both be at the Con providing coverage, so check back later this week. Watch the video after the jump, and leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Because they’re Entertainment Weekly and you’re not, the magazine has a bunch of new images to show off as a precursor to next week’s San Diego Comic-Con.  While nothing they have will blow you away (although there is a new shot from Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” that’s absolutely stunning), it’s worth checking out and will probably further your maddening confusion about which panels to attend.

Hit the jump to check out a few of the new photos and click here to see the rest.

Last year was my first time visiting Comic-Con. This year I am ready. I am pumped. I am bringing a large bodyguard who will push tiny nerds out of my way so I can grab more swag.

The official Comic-Con website has just posted the schedule for Thursday and for Wednesday’s “Preview Night”, which you can only attending if you’ve purchased a four-day pass. Friday and Saturday tend to be the Con’s biggest days with the largest events but Thursday and Sunday are no slouches. I’ve included the full schedule for Thursday, July 23rd after the jump and highlighted what I think may be worth your time (although my interests skew more towards movies and television as opposed to comics, action figures, and games).  Keep checking back as the schedules for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will most likely be announced over the next few days.

Oh, and if you need an explanation for the hard-hat in the image above, click here.

MTV’s Splash Page has landed the first photo of Christopher Mintz-Plasse as superhero sidekick “Red Mist” in Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic series, “Kick-Ass”.  In keeping with what I assume is the makeshift style of costumes for those that choose to be superheroes rather than having any special abilities, Red Mist looks like he wanted something that screams “Leather Daddy” and he got it.  I kind of hope they have some footage soon because this is the problem with individual stills: they lack context and are subject to easy mockery and even easier dismissal.

Hit the jump to see the full photo and find out when and where you’ll be able to finally see footage from this noise.

With only twenty one days remaining till this year’s Comic-Con, news is slowly starting to leak out about what this year’s attendees can see.  Hopefully, the official website will release a full schedule immediately so folks can know which lines to stand in for most of the day.

While we don’t know what line you’ll have to stand in for Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass” (Hall H?  Certainly one of the larger ballrooms, at least), we know that you’ll have to carve out a block of time near the end of the day on Thursday, July 23rd if you want to see his adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic starring Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz, and Nicolas Cage.  Vaughn will be showing off footage from the upcoming film although there’s no official word yet if any of the stars will be attending as well.  Personally, I’m happy with just Vaughn as he grabbed my attention with “Layer Cake” and then created an underseen gem with “Stardust”.  The story follows a normal 16-year-old who decides to become a super-hero despite having no training or special powers.  While I’ve never made secret of my disdain for Mark Millar’s work and his self-promotion disproportionate to his talent, I have confidence that Vaughn and co-screenwriter Jane Goodman can turn his comic into something pretty spectacular.

Hit the jump for a few images from the film. [via /Film]

While the film doesn’t debut until later this year and we haven’t even seen a trailer, writer Mark Millar is already planning for a sequel to Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of comic book “Kick-Ass” which follows a 16-year-old who decides to become a superhero.  Speaking with Sci-Fi Wire about his upcoming projects, Millar says,

“Kick-Ass 2 is already being plotted out. We’re planning it, because all the actors are quite young and we have to make it relatively quickly. So we’ll definitely do that inside the next 18 to 24 months.”

Millar continues that the success of “Wanted” (another film adapted from his comics) went beyond most folks predictions and he thinks that “Kick-Ass” will make even more money.  It’s good to know that Millar is using money instead of whether folks just liked the film, as the barometer of quality for his projects.  That being said, I’m a big fan of Matthew Vaughn and hopefully “Kick-Ass” will work in spite of its origin as a Mark Millar comic.