Universal looks set to announce it’s moving ahead on Kick-Ass 2, and filming may kick off as soon as August.

According to sources speaking with Deadline, Universal has picked up the rights to Kick-Ass from Lionsgate and plans to move full-speed ahead on a sequel to the cult hit.  New deals will need to be struck with the characters who played the three surviving characters: Aaron Johnson (Dave/Kick-Ass), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Chris/Red Mist) and Chloe Moretz (Mindy/Hit-Girl).  It will be Moretz that may pose the most issues as she has aged quite a bit since the original and has become quite the in-demand actress since the original film.  (Mainly because she stole the film.)

Matthew Vaughn who directed the original is committed to the X-Men: First Class sequel, so he would be unavailable when it came time to film.  He, however, has supposedly given his blessing to new director Jeff Wadlow who has also penned the script.

The original film was made for $30 million and grossed $48 million domestic and $48 million foreign for a $96 million worldwide gross.  While it didn’t make a huge return on its theatrical run, it has gone on to do well on home video and build up a cult following.  In a lot of cases such as this, the sequel will perform better than original as people who got acquainted with the original via home viewings wil go out to see the follow-up.  Will it be a giant hit?  Nope.  Will I be thrilled to get a sequel?  While I loved the original, it had its issues (I still can’t get over that jet pack), but I would gladly plopped down my money for another outing with Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl.

[via Deadline]

At long last, Johnny Depp’s dream project of a Dark Shadows movie is becoming a reality, and of course he brought Tim Burton along for the ride.

For those unfamiliar with the property, Dark Shadows was a gothic soap opera that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971.  It centered around the mysterious Collins family and included all sorts of mysterious overtones and, oh yeah, a vampire.  Over the course of its run it built a huge cult following that lasts to this day, and counts amongst its number Johnny Depp and Tim Burton.

This is a project that has circulated around Depp for years, but due to the fairly niche audience it would go for, no one was really willing to fund it.  However, when your name is “Depp,” and you’ve stared in nearly half of the highest grossing films of all time, apparently people will take a gamble on you finally.  Add in the fact that he wanted to play the lead of Barnabas Collins – yes, the vampire – and you can understand why someone finally coughed up the budget for this.

A cast photo has been released for the new film that you can see below which seems to have been in reaction to some leaked set photos that showed Depp wearing heavy amounts of make-up that made him look nothing like the original character.  Now we’re left to wonder what was up with those images because in this photo he looks dead-on with the original series.  (click the image for a slightly larger view)

And here is a cast photo from the television series.

For those who care to learn more about the production, you can read the initial filming press release after the break. In the meantime, judging by this picture, Tim Burton has gathered up the usual suspects for his films with a few new additions. (Oh yeah! Chloe Moretz from Kick-Ass! Woo!)  How this will play with audiences, who knows, but Burton & Depp have yet to let me down when they team up.

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Vampires, vampires, vampires. Will the craze over them ever end? Doubtful.

The newest entry in the genre is Let Me In, a remake of a Swedish book and film entitled Let The Right One In.  It’s the story of a 12-year-old boy who ends up befriending a young girl that moved in next door to him along with her guardian.  It just so happens she is a vampire.  (not sure about the guy who lives with her)

It appears the story deals with what it would be like to be a child vampire, an angle that has been touched on in the film Near Dark and the book/film Interview With A Vampire.   Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be visited again, but it isn’t exactly new territory.

To me, the thing that immediately caught my eye is it stars Chloe Moretz who turned in the brilliant role of Hit Girl in Kick-Ass.  (which, surprisingly, looks like it will be getting a sequel!)  Just gauging things by the trailer, she looks like she is definitely going to be an actress to watch in the coming years.

Let Me In hits theaters Oct. 1st.