Brandon Engel on Veronica Mars’ journey from TV to feature…
Veronica Mars has returned, and this time we can only hope there won’t be another seven year hiatus before we see her again. Granted, while the shift from television to film was more than bit rocky, it did take far too long for Warner Bros. (who holds the rights to Veronica Mars) to recognize just how many people were missing their favorite female detective. But when numbers alone can’t talk, money does, and when they both point to the same conclusion, even studios as large as Warner Bros. stops to listen.
What I’m speaking of, of course, is the now infamous Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign of 2013. Actress Kristen Bell, star of Veronica Mars, along with writer and creator Rob Thomas, were determined to convince Warner Bros. that Veronica Mars was not worth killing off, even years later. To do so, they convinced the studio to allow them to create a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of $2 million dollars. While the funds couldn’t hurt (after all, couldn’t every project use a couple extra million?) the campaign was ultimately just as important in gaining Warner Bros.’ support, and, as a result, their marketing and additional funding. As many know, the film’s Kickstarter campaign raised well over $2 million, coming in at a whopping $5.7 million thanks to a total of 91,585 individual donations. The project was Kickstarter’s most successful campaign, and news of the film’s successful fundraising spread through news sources and social media, resulting in more promotion than even Warner Bros. could have funded.
Nonetheless, Warner Bros. did give the final nod of approval for the film’s creation, and just recently the final product was released in selected theaters, and interestingly enough, in digital form. A free digital download was also available immediately for Kickstarter donors who contributed $25 or more to the project, and already, major cable suppliers are offering an at-home version to download as well.
Most fans, at least, are thrilled with Veronica’s return. The film was, undeniably, a feature length love letter to fans, which meant that every favorite appeared in some cameo form or another, which meant the show’s biggest fans were left to discover one Easter egg after another of inside jokes and long-forgotten loose ends. Social aggregates like Topsy and Viral Heat showed over 80 percent of Twitter users mentioning the film positively, and many of those users are already begging for a sequel to the film:
@alexa213 @RobThomas can have all my money if he keeps putting out Veronica Mars movies, books, and Netflix episodes 😉
— Susan Michelin (@susanmichelin) March 18, 2014
Watched the #VeronicaMarsMovie. Loved the Veronica Mars movie. Want more Veronica Mars movies. #neptuneforlife #gopirates
— Lauren (@LaurenLucci) March 23, 2014
The transition to film from a preexisting television show wasn’t necessarily as smooth as one would have wanted. While the necessity of Thomas’ script re-introducing the characters that were left behind in 2007 is obvious to pull in viewers who aren’t familiar with the show, it was more than a little difficult for non-fans, or even fans who hadn’t caught up with the series in a while, to keep up with the film’s constant reintroductions and updates of old cast members. It didn’t help that many of those characters, Mac, Weevil, and Wallace for example (previously the brains, spirit, and sometimes-brawn of Veronica’s original gang) all ended up predictably placed in the future. Mac now works for Kane Software, Weevil is a slightly reformed, yet still tough, family man, and Wallace is a high school coach and teacher. Though the film acknowledges the time passed in a delightful way (Veronica responds in an expectedly witty way as she stumbles around Neptune reacquainting herself with her old cohorts), more than a few viewers seemed disappointed at the lack of a truly engaging mystery that engaged more than just primarily Veronica.
Finally saw the Veronica Mars movie. Im not sure it’s a good movie but it was fun to revisit the characters/universe. Now I want more.
— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) March 23, 2014
The “Veronica Mars” movie cares too much about what fans think (and that’s why it’s not very good) http://t.co/FfYRSYb0aZ
— WIRED (@WIRED) March 19, 2014
Still, previous fans and future hopefuls alike should support the feature film, since talk of a sequel is already in works. If this sequel were to occur (supposedly this is riding on a mysterious box office number the debut film must surpass), Rob Thomas has already promised less focus on “catching up” with the old Neptune gang. Which explains why, exactly, the first film was so geared toward fans and intent on setting the scene: it was always Thomas’s goal to create a groundwork for future Veronica films, books, and more. Thomas even told TVLine that, if able to do a sequel, he “would try to write Chinatown with Veronica Mars at the center of it,” and this time, the mystery would be the center of the film, as opposed to the characters fans have spent years missing. So, while Veronica may not have returned as quite the undeniable mystery-solving force she once was, the film was an excellent trip down memory lane, and at any rate, future installments have an excellent chance at bringing back Mars Investigations and its team of investigators to the level it once was.
Brandon Engel
Originally published March 27, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
