The long, improbable journey of Matthew Vaughn's film adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.'s superhero comic "Kick-Ass" took it's final step towards life on the big screen today as it was announced the movie would have its world premier on March 12 at the South By Southwest Film Festival.

Held every year in Austin, Texas as part of the massive South By Southwest (commonly called SXSW) celebration of independent and interactive media, the film festival made "Kick-Ass" its opening movie based on the film's mass appeal and self-financed credibility. "Kick-Ass is a truly fun ride, with non-stop action, clever humor, and even heart, which is exactly what our audience has come to love and expect from SXSW every year," Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson explained via press release.

The story of would-be teenage crimefighter Dave Lizewski (played by Aaron Johnson) and a band of comic fans turned superheroes that includes Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Nicolas Cage, "Kick-Ass" was picked up for distribution by Lionsgate in August. It will hit theaters nationwide on April 16.

Some footage from the movie made its way to conventions this past summer, and as Millar told CBR last month, the film has been finished and awaiting release for quite a while. "It's funny, because I've already seen the movie so many times. I saw it in various stages. I saw the pre-visual stage. I've seen the actors trying on costumes and everything. I've seen a rough cut and several different edits of it. The finished movie has been ready now for about three, four months, and I've actually seen the finished movie in a theatre six times. So the finished movie - beginning, middle and end - is never going to change. It's locked in. Just the music needs to be added. But I've sat in a theatre and watched it six times, so it's feels kind of weird that the rest of the world hasn't seen it yet."

Check back to CBR for more news on "Kick-Ass" as it becomes available.