Kick-Ass 2 wasn't quite the box office success that many were predicting based upon the cult status of its predecessor, although with a budget of just $28 million the sequel is already in the black, having banked $40 million since its release earlier this month. So with that in mind, it seems there's a good chance we'll get to see the final instalment in the trilogy arriving on the screen, assuming comic book co-creator Mark Millar can convince Universal to give Kick-Ass 3 the green light before its cast become too old for their roles.
"I don't think we can wait that long because the youth of the characters is really important," Millar tells Yahoo. "Hit-Girl's going to be a mum in the next one if we don't hurry up. I reckon if we do this one, we should try and do it in the next couple of years – it depends on schedules though because these guys are all really busy. But we need to move fast with it."
Meanwhile Millar has also reiterated his stance that the third comic book series - which is currently two issues into its run - will mark the end of the Kick-Ass story: "[Kick-Ass 3] is the conclusion of the Dave Lizewski story. I'm almost done, I've nearly finished the book. It's the end. It's weird. My agent keeps saying to me, 'We're making a lot of money here. Let's do Kick-Ass 4 and 5.' But I said, 'No, I've got to stay true to my principles'. I want to end it where I want to end it, because when I first put this together in 2006, I had this ending and it's the very logical conclusion. To milk it beyond that either means I've got greedy or I've come up with some brilliant new idea, but it probably pretty much ends with Kick-Ass 3. I've always seen it as a trilogy."
Kick-Ass 2 is out now in cinemas with Jeff Wadlow directing a cast that includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Jim Carrey. Read our reviews here and here.
"I don't think we can wait that long because the youth of the characters is really important," Millar tells Yahoo. "Hit-Girl's going to be a mum in the next one if we don't hurry up. I reckon if we do this one, we should try and do it in the next couple of years – it depends on schedules though because these guys are all really busy. But we need to move fast with it."
Meanwhile Millar has also reiterated his stance that the third comic book series - which is currently two issues into its run - will mark the end of the Kick-Ass story: "[Kick-Ass 3] is the conclusion of the Dave Lizewski story. I'm almost done, I've nearly finished the book. It's the end. It's weird. My agent keeps saying to me, 'We're making a lot of money here. Let's do Kick-Ass 4 and 5.' But I said, 'No, I've got to stay true to my principles'. I want to end it where I want to end it, because when I first put this together in 2006, I had this ending and it's the very logical conclusion. To milk it beyond that either means I've got greedy or I've come up with some brilliant new idea, but it probably pretty much ends with Kick-Ass 3. I've always seen it as a trilogy."
Kick-Ass 2 is out now in cinemas with Jeff Wadlow directing a cast that includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Jim Carrey. Read our reviews here and here.