‘Veronica Mars’ Digital Copies Cause Headache For Flixster

The Veronica Mars movie finally arrived in theaters over the weekend. Over the course of three days, it collected approximately $2 million from only a few hundred theaters. In short: The film was a pretty big success.

Unfortunately, the same doesn’t ring true for the digital release of Veronica Mars. Folks who helped make the project a reality through donations on Kickstarter were originally promised working copies of the flick for their help. Although Warner Bros. issued the movie through Flixster, server problems resulted in a bit of a headache.

According to Indiewire, fans weren’t exactly happy about not receiving a working copy of the film on opening day. In fact, many folks were less than impressed that Warner Bros. decided to release the digital copies of Veronica Mars through Flixster. This prompted director Rob Thomas to issue an open letter on Kickstarter.

“As you’ll see in the original FAQ on our Kickstarter page, we’ve always planned to include Flixster as a digital distribution platform. But I also know that many of you use iTunes, Amazon or other platforms, and would prefer to claim your digital copies on your favorite service, so we hoped we’d also be able to arrange for more options,” Thomas explained.

He added, “Unfortunately, it just wasn’t possible. In the end, Flixster was the best option for getting the digital movie reward out to all of you, worldwide, at the same time. But more than anything, I genuinely want today to be perfect for all of you. It’s March 14. Today, your movie came out worldwide, and I want you to be able to watch it on whatever platform or device works best for your needs.”

The filmmaker urged disappointed fans to contact Warner Bros. about their connectivity issues. Instead of paying for the flick on another VOD platform, Thomas believes the studio will help Veronica Mars supporters get the movie on the service they prefer. In short: He’s hoping the studio will help him prevent further fan backlash.

According to Entertainment Weekly, studio executives are pretty happy with the success of Veronica Mars. In fact, there’s a possibility that a sequel could happen in the very near future. Jeff Goldstein, vice president of theatrical distribution, was definitely impressed with the film’s performance.

“Our result starting with our Thursday fan events was $260K. You add that together with our weekend for a total of $2 million from 291 theaters? That’s pretty significant. We recognize going forward that there’s room in the marketplace for huge movies, medium movies, and boutique films for a very specific audience,” he explained.

Did you catch the long-awaited Veronica Mars movie in theaters over the weekend? Were you one of the folks affected by problems with Flixster?