Kickstarter fund launched for 'Veronica Mars' movie - 12 News KBMT and K-JAC. News, Weather and Sports for SE Texas

Kickstarter fund launched for 'Veronica Mars' movie

By Breeanna Hare

"Veronica Mars" fans who've been longing for a movie are taking up creator Rob Thomas' offer to make it happen.

'Veronica Mars': Where are they now?

Thomas, who created the series that centered on a smart, witty teen detective named Veronica Mars, has launched a Kickstarter fund to finance a film.

As he says on his page, the idea of a "Veronica Mars" movie has been floating around for a while now, but never seemed to get very far. Studio Warner Bros., Thomas said, didn't think there was enough interest in the concept to warrant backing a full-fledged feature.

So when a friend of Thomas' suggested he use Kickstarter to raise the necessary cash, Thomas at first dismissed the idea, since he would need "millions."

But, he says, "the notion was never far from my mind. I started doing the proverbial back-of-a-cocktail-napkin math." With the average pledge on the site being $71, Thomas figured that with 30,000 people giving that much they'd be able to get a film off the ground. ("Particularly if the cast and I were willing to work cheap," he said.)

Star Kristen Bell, who still embodies Veronica for a lot of fans, is on board, and she met with Warner Bros. execs along with Thomas to get the go-ahead for the Kickstarter effort. The studio still owns the rights to the series, which ran for three seasons from 2004 to 2007. Warner Bros., Thomas said, is willing to support the project if the fans show up.

"So this is it. This is our shot. I believe it's the only one we've got," Thomas said. "I suppose we could fail in spectacular fashion, but there's also the chance that we completely revolutionize how projects like ours can get made."

Thomas is trying to reach a goal of $2 million by 11 p.m. ET on April 12. At the time of this post, he's already halfway there, having raised just over $1 million. The Kickstarter page just went live on Wednesday.

"If the project is successful," Thomas said, "our plan is to go into production this summer and the movie will be released in early 2014."

The movie version would catch up with Veronica after she departed Neptune and stopped taking on casework. But, "something big" calls her back home, and back to doing the work she aced, even while in high school.

In what's surely been mentioned as an incentive, Thomas said that his "goal is to include as many of your favorite characters as possible. It is, after all, time for Veronica's 10-year high school reunion. Keep in mind that the more money we raise, the cooler movie we can make."

If Bell's Twitter account is any indication, fans are eagerly opening their wallets at the promise of seeing the show resurrected for the big screen.

"OH MY GOD @IMKristenBell TAKE ALL MY MONEY" wrote one excited "Veronica Mars" viewer.

Bell, who's expecting a baby with her fiancé Dax Shepard this spring, is overjoyed with the support.

"[W]aking up to tweets like this has put a crazy pregnant smile on my face," she said in response to the Twitter follower who may soon be penniless. "[A]ll this excitement is prolly gonna send me into early labor. #iamsoexcited"