It’s official! A Veronica Mars film is actually being made, and it’s all because of you, the fans.
We reported yesterday that a Kickstarter campaign was started by series creator Rob Thomas in order to bring the character of Veronica Mars to the big screen for the very first time. The fans came out in force , with the film’s $2 million goal met in just under 12 hours.
Thomas and series star Kristen Bell announced that they were committed to seeing a Veronica Mars film, but that they had long awaited studio approval (Warner Bros. owns rights to the character) and needed a financial boost. After meeting with producers, the studio gave them approval, and they turned to Kickstarter for help raising funds.
“No Kickstarter project ever has set a goal this high. It’s up to you, the fans, now. If the project is successful, our plan is to go into production this summer and the movie will be released in early 2014,” Thomas wrote.
In a special note from Bell, the 32-year-old actress assured fans that she was all-in on the project, so long as they were behind the idea.
“You have banded together like the sassy little honey badgers you are and made this possibility happen. i promise if we hit our goal, we will make the sleuthiest, snarkiest, it’s-all-fun-and-games-‘til-one-of-you-gets-my-foot-up-your-ass movie we possibly can,” she wrote.
Guess what? You banded together. What’s more, you went above and beyond the goal. Almost $2.7 million has been pledged to the Veronica Mars film as of this posting, and that number is still climbing.
Thomas was following the progress of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign in real time on his Twitter. It was pretty entertaining.
Holy shit.
— Rob Thomas (@RobThomas) March 13, 2013
Really overwhelmed here. — Rob Thomas (@RobThomas) March 13, 2013
Hey, this is the first day there’s more me traffic than Matchbox 20 traffic on my Twitter feed! — Rob Thomas (@RobThomas) March 13, 2013
Shortly after hitting the goal, Thomas confirmed on Twitter that the Veronica Mars film had been greenlit.
Hallelujah! It’s a green light my friends. I love you all, but particularly the donors among you. #Veronicamars .@ imkristenbell — Rob Thomas (@RobThomas) March 14, 2013
Kristen Bell brought the humility (and the snark) to her own Twitter feed as well.
I love you guys. You are all SO spectacular. I am speechless.
— Kristen Bell(@IMKristenBell) March 14, 2013
dear pope: Im sorry VM fans stole ur thunder on ur 1st day. I mean,Im not really that sorry,but i thought it would be polite 2 say so. xo
— Kristen Bell(@IMKristenBell) March 14, 2013
So expect a Veronica Mars film in early 2014 after it shoots this summer.
“I knew Veronica Mars fans were cool, but I had no idea they could rally with such power,” Bell told Entertainment Weekly . “They are unstoppable — just like Veronica. I will have a permanent blush on my face, feeling so lucky to be associated with this entire thing.”
If you’re a Veronica Mars fan and want to make a pledge to the Kickstarter campaign (donations as low as $1) you can do so here .