Look out, Neptune: Veronica Mars is coming back to town. Hopefully.
Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas announced today that a Veronica Mars movie is in the works and has been in the works for over a year! But, the project is a Kickstarter one, and it needs our help.
Our favorite blonde sleuth could be on the big screen as early as Spring 2014, but according to Thomas and Bell, they need $2 million in 30 days in order to make it happen. If the money comes through, Mars Investigations is back in business and they shoot this summer. Not only does the $2 million in donations help the cause, but it also shows Warner Bros. (who still owns the rights to VMars) that fans care enough to step up, get involved and demand more Veronica. Warner has agreed to pick up the tab for marketing, promotion and distribution, should the Kickstarter campaign be a success (It’s looking good kids – a mere 2.5 hours later and we’ve raised $519,628!)
Thomas and his team hope to release the movie in the first quarter of 2014 for a limited-time theatrical run, followed by VOD, iTunes and other digital platforms.
Rewards packages on Kickstarter start as low as $10 (updates during production and a copy of the script on the day of release) and go as high as $10,000 (a part in the movie), with all sorts of goodies in between, including physical DVDs, Bluray/DVD combos, voicemail messages from Bell and the rest of the cast, and even a set visit and lunch with the cast. So donate now, dammit!
Follow Bell and Thomas on Twitter and check out the Veronica Mars Facebook page for all the glorious updates. I can also be found on Twitter and Facebook, squealing in delight and skipping like a school boy. Or something like that.
Lets do this.
*Edit* The Kickstarter page is now up to $763,752 as of 2 p.m. EST!
This is just the coolest thing. I’ve been checking in to see how it’s been trending, and it’s still ticking upward – almost $4 million now.
It makes me nervous that shows with small but dedicated fanbases will have to go this route going forward, vs. the Family Guy/Futurama route, for instance, but at least this option now exists and gives the fans the opportunity to take a chance when lame movie execs don’t.
Yeah…it’s a good start because it lets our voices be heard (or rather, let us put our money where our mouths are), but also, it sucks that when it does make money, the studio is going to reap the benefits of our investment. Still though – more Veronica = SUCCESS. Perhaps, this “new model” will need a bit of ironing out in the future to let its backers possible earn their money back, at the very least. But who knows! I’m still excited.