'Kick-Ass 2': Assault Rifles Removed From Promotional Still

The still featuring Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) originally featured two assault-style weapons when The Hollywood Reporter downloaded the photo July 10 from publicity site image.net. By Friday, the still had been replaced on image.net with an altered version in which the two guns were no longer visible.
Kick-Ass 2 studio Universal Pictures did not immediately respond to THR’s request for comment about the change.


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The scrubbed image comes as a debate over assault weapons continues take place around the country following several mass shootings. In June, Kick-Ass 2 star Jim Carrey denounced the film’s violence, saying he could no longer support it in light of the recent shootings.
"I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence," he tweeted June 23. "I meant to say my apologies to others involve with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart."
Mark Millar, who created the comic series Kick-Ass with John Romita Jr., responded to Carrey’s concerns in a post on his website: "As you may know, Jim is a passionate advocate of gun-control and I respect both his politics and his opinion, but I'm baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn't in the screenplay eighteen months ago. Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin."

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Kick-Ass 2 continues the story of masked vigilante teens played by Moretz and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass). The film also stars Carrey as the masked superhero Colonel Stars and Stripes and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the villain the motherf---er.
Last month at CineEurope, Universal exec Simon Hewlett touted the film as a "bigger, badder, more ballsy adventure."
"It's irreverent, dark and often offensive," said Hewlett, Universal Pictures International executive vp marketing.
The film from director Jeff Wadlow is slated for an Aug. 16 release.