The Veronica Mars Movie

The entertainment world was a-buzz with the wildly successful Kickstart campaign started by Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell to get the Veronica Mars movie made. As a fan of Veronica Mars since the first season originally airing on UPN, yes it’s been a while since this spunky teenage detective became a cult favorite. Unfortunately our time in Neptune, California was cut short after a mere three seasons. There was a pitch to get a fourth season of the show, following Veronica a few years down the road when she had moved from the private detective business to an FBI agent. Unfortunately this never happened, and ever since the show ended in 2007 creator Rob Thomas, star Kristen Bell and several of the other actors have expressed desire to make a movie, to really give the fans the ending they deserve. Anyone who watched the third season know that it ended in a completely unsatisfying manner, nothing was resolved. 

Luckily the creative forces behind the series remained passionate about the project, even after years of being rebuffed by the studios. They were told there was not a large enough interest in seeing the series on the big screen. This week this was all proven wrong.

Thomas and Bell took matters into their own hands and brought the issue of funding directly to the fans. Using the popular crowd-funding website Kickstarter they set a funding goal of $2 million over 30 days and the opportunity to get a variety of rewards based on the donation amount. For a $10,000 someone would get a walk on role in the movie that was guaranteed to make the final cut.  The way that Kickstarter works is that everyone who pledges money is only obligated to give it if the fundraising goal is reached during the given time period. That way anyone willing to donate knows that their money will actually go to the intended project.

The tongue and cheek video that promoted their cause featured Bell in her home with the actors that played her boyfriend, father, and another main actor on the show talking about wanting to get the movie made with the same humor that made the show a fan favorite to begin with. The cause went viral, the video was quickly featured on many sites and the fans responded.

The campaign became the fastest Kickstarter in history, reaching $1 million dollars in 6 hours and reaching the $2 million dollar goal in less than 10 hours. Like that the project was green lit, and the money continues to pour in, and with 27 days left to collect the more money they receive, the more they will be able to do with the film.

This campaign put the power back in the consumers hands, instead of the studio heads, this may just usher in a new era for those shows that have long been forgotten about by executives, but whose fans remain passionate about knowing what would have become of their favorite characters. Here’s to a happy ending for Veronica, and who knows maybe next up, the Gilmore Girls and a trip back to Stars Hollow? Well, a girl can dream.