Skip to Content

Make smart financial decisions with DailyFinance

lionsgate films Tagged Articles at Cinematical

'Kick-Ass' Is Coming! Get Ready!

Filed under: Action », Independent », Lionsgate Films », Newsstand », Movie Marketing », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Images », Posters »


Exclusives have become tricky things in our field that I held off sharing these Kick-Ass posters, which debuted on IGN on Friday. But now you might need some inspiration for your Monday in the form of home made teenage vigilantes. Kick-Ass is based on the Mark Millar miniseries, and is directed by Matthew Vaughn. It's had a pretty crazy ride to the big-screen, as when it was first optioned no studio wanted to touch it because of its teenage violence and foul language. Vaughn went the indie route and it's paid off with a lot of ComicCon buzz, fan enthusiasm, and a distributor in Lionsgate.

So far, Lionsgate is handling the marketing well. The poster designs are quite classy (I've put a high-res version in the gallery), which go with the daring approach of not showing a single face. Instead we only get the, ahem, asses of Red Mist, Kick-Ass, Hit Girl, and Big Daddy. I particularly like the nod to Nite Owl in Big Daddy's silhouette. Very appropriate for something that borrows from the real world "heroes" of Watchmen, no?

In a sign that its April 16, 2010 date isn't too far away, the official site went live on Friday and the trailer is set to debut on MySpace in 12 days. We'll bring it to you here on Cinematical, so no need for you to stress ... just us! Hey, we're vigilantes in our own way.

Gallery: Kick-Ass

How Will 'W.' Do This Weekend?

Filed under: New Releases », Lionsgate Films », Box Office »

It's the question of the week. Lionsgate took a considerable risk in snapping up Oliver Stone's rushed-to-production W. with the plan of releasing it just a couple weeks before the election, when the country -- and especially the film's target audience -- has already been living and breathing presidential politics for months. On the other hand, Lionsgate's marketing effort has been very solid, giving the jokes and conventional wisdom (Bush as a beer-guzzling frat boy, etc.) plenty of play while successfully pitching it as a serious historical saga. I think they've succeeded in making people curious, which is the best they could have hoped for. And the positive buzz that has started to surround the film in the last week or so will only help.

So let's talk turkey. How much money will W., opening on 2,000 screens with Max Payne as its main competition, make this weekend? There's no real precedent for this, so the prediction is very difficult. Stone's World Trade Center managed to open to $18 million despite the subject matter, though it had 1,000 more screens to work with. I could be way off, but I still think this release is precarious enough that $15 million would be a big victory, and $10 million not a disappointment. I suspect the reality will be somewhere between those two numbers.

What do you think? Do people want to see this? Will they actually be able to bring themselves to go?

How Much will 'W.' Make at the Box Office This Weekend?

 
.