Record breaking VERONICA MARS movie launches and is succedfully funded on Kickstarter!

This is the fourth time I’v had to rewrite this article. Originally it began by telling you how “ever since Veronica Mars got pulled from the airwaves, fans have been been kicking up quite the ruckus to see the plucky Nancy Drew-alike returned to her sleuthing ways. 

Apparently times are tough even if you’re a cute blonde with a big rack…. of solved cases. That’s why, much like so many other fan-favourite projects lately, Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell took to Kickstarter to see their heroine get some proper resolution on the big screen, despite being told for years by Warner Bros that there just wasn’t a big enough fan base to get it going.”

And that was when things started getting a little crazy.

Before we get tot the crazy part, let’s get some context though. Warner Bros offered a deal: They would pay for the film’s ad campaign and distribution, but Thomas and Bell would need to raise the money to actually make the film. That’s when they turned to the fans, asking for a mere $2 million – pocket change in Hollywood terms – and if they reached that goal in 30 days, WB would let them start shooting mid-year for a 2014 VOD and limited theater release.

30 days? Clearly everybody has underestimated Veronica Mars fans.

At the time of me starting to write this article, merely 2 hours into their 30 day deadline, the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter project had already racked up approximately $280 000. By the time I finished writing this article, that number had nearly doubled. 4 Hours after launching, the tally crossed the $1 million mark, officially becoming the fastest Kickstart project to ever do so. Early this morning, approximately 9 hours after the campaign began, they amazingly reached their goal of $2 million.

And here’s the scary thing: Like most Kickstarter campaigns, the various levels of pledges  get various levels of gifts, from a copy of the script for a $10 pledge to a speaking role in the movie for $10 000 or more (which somebody actually pledged already!), but due some logistical issues they were unable to ship the physically bigger gifts outside of the US. This resulted in many international fans pledging smaller amounts now than they would have had they been able to actually get their reward. So yes, that figure, which at last count stands at a ridiculous $2.48 million, could have been even higher by now.

So go Mars-mellows! (wait, that’s really what you fanatics call yourselves?) You got your wish and then some!

Now due to the time difference, most local Veronica Mars fans are probably only hearing about this now. So if you’re all revved up to contribute and add to the ridiculousness, go ahead. There’s no such thing as too much money. For the rest of you who are maybe like me and never got into the show when it aired (Yes, I’ve heard countless times how good it was. It’s on my To-Do list, OK?!) and now need a little bit of extra convincing to fork out your hard earned cash for a movie that’s then going to earn Warner Bros more money while you just possibly get creepy back/front rubs and signed posters as your reward, well here’s the promo clip for the Kickstarter campaign that (pardon the pun) kicked off this insanity.

Jokes about front rubs aside though, as Ms Bell mentions in the video, this could be a watershed moment. Not only will it force WB to eat some serious crow (I hear a good side dish to crow is foot), but also having a mainstream movie completely crowd-funded this quickly, by fans for the fans, is kind of a big deal. David Fincher’s The Goon raised $400 000 in a day, but that was just to make a show reel to shop around to studios. This is the real deal.

And if it goes on to make enough money for people to really sit up and notice (and based on fan response now, that certainly isn’t far fetched), the Veronica Mars movie could pave the way for similar projects to get beyond just the fanboy dream phase.

I mean, can you say Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future full length movie? Anyone? Can anyone at all say that? Just me then. Sigh.

Last Updated: March 14, 2013