An ass-kicking in store at weekend box office (HWD)

By Paul Dergarabedian & Wiretap Staff

The box-office is about to take an ass kicking as Lionsgate's inventive, unique and genre-altering superhero film "Kick Ass" blasts its way into theaters this weekend.

A veritable fanboy (and fangirl) dream come true, the film takes the conventions of the genre and turns them on their mask-covered heads. Directed by Matthew Vaughn (helmer of the excellent 2004 crime drama "Layer Cake), the film stars Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Red Mist, Aaron Johnson as Kick Ass and in a scene-stealing pairing, Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy and Chloe Moretz as his daughter Hit Girl.

With jaw-dropping scenes that boast incredible imagery and heretofore unchartered thematic territory for a pre-teen actor in a mainstream film, "Kick Ass" is bold enough to take the courage of its wild convictions to a cinematic extreme. Channeling Natalie Portman's pre-teen hit-girl-in-training in 1994's brilliant "Leon" ("The Professional" in the US), Chloe Moretz's hit girl will have parenting groups losing their minds as this cute little kid uses the language of a truck-driver and handles weapons like a pro, while killing more people than Steven Seagal in his heyday.

Add to the mix Nicolas Cage in a terrific supporting role as Hit Girl's father and you've got a pairing that is at once twisted and touching. Look for strong word-of-mouth and the so-called "Twitter effect" to help this film achieve long term success, not to mention that when the film was screened at ShoWest earlier this year it garnered a tremendous positive reaction from theater owners.

Opening in 2,459 theaters is the ensemble comedy from Screen Gems, "Death at a Funeral" which boasts an all-star cast including Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Luke Wilson. A nice counter-programmed alternative to the comic book styling's of "Kick Ass," this R-rated look at the humorous goings on, revelations and kooky family interaction at a funeral should perform well this weekend.

Last year both "17 Again" and "State of Play" debuted with a combined total of $37.8 million and hopefully this year's combination of newcomers and strong hold-overs like Warner Bros.' "Clash of the Titans" and Fox's "Date Night" will give us an up weekend over last year's comparable frame. After last weekend's down trend, we could certainly use a boost and the continuation of our 10% plus revenue advantage over 2009 at this point.