KRISTEN BELL DISHES ON BRINGING “VERONICA MARS” BACK TO THE BIG SCREEN AND HOW THE FANS KICKSTARTED HER SUPER SLEUTHING RETURN

 

This is definitely the little film that could! Veronica Mars is back to sleuthing after a seven-year hiatus in the highly anticipated and fan-funded movie version Veronica Mars.

Kristen Bell reprises her role as Veronica, California’s beloved girl detective in the new Veronica Mars movie, which takes place almost a decade after the series finale. Veronica now lives in New York City with her studly and straight edge boyfriend, Pix, and is about to graduate from law school. She’s given up her days as an amateur sleuth, but when her ex-boyfriend, Logan, is accused of the murder of his girlfriend, Veronica takes the first flight back to Neptune for one last case.

This movie is a prime example of the power of fandom. A cult favourite, the show was cancelled after just three seasons because it wasn’t getting the same attention as other teen dramas, but that didn’t mean it didn’t have a dedicated following. The show’s creator, Rob Thomas, refused to let the series die in 2007 and left the ending open. “I intentionally left it unsettled because I didn’t want to make it easy for the network to take us off the air,” he explained. “It has felt unfinished for both me and the fans for the last seven years. Had I given it a tidy ending, there might not have been any clamoring to create a sequel.”

The cliffhanger led to what eventually became a historic Kickststarter fundraiser where the show’s fans contributed their hard-earned money to support the production of a feature length show starring their favourite hard-nosed super sleuth. Within hours of starting the Kickstarter fund, fans began to donate. “I woke up when it was at $400,000 or something. I opened my computer and I was just in shock,” Kristen Bell recalled. “I couldn’t believe that not only was it showing signs of success, but would also probably make our goal within a day, which had never happened before. We asked for $2 million; the fact that we eventually raised 5.7 million blew everybody’s lid.”

The insane interest and activity led the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter to break all sorts of records, including most backers, fastest project to reach $1 million and $2 million, and largest successful film project. While that would have been enough for fans, Thomas needed to let the fans know just how much he and the cast appreciated their support and set out to pay back the backers in a special way: by offering them all roles as extras in the film.

“We had a tons of Kickstarter extras in the shoot,” said Bell. “It ended up actually being really, really fun. There was this energy of excitement; everyone wanted to be there.” Fans flew in from all over the world just to be an extra in the film and see its product first hand. The crew was equally inspired by the fans’ dedication and excitement. “We played a game with the actors: ‘pick out the Kickstarter extras without anyone pointing them out to you.’ The backers are the ones who look eager, who can’t wait for the next shot.” The love was mutual and Thomas revealed that the cast didn’t have to be encouraged to be chatty and sign autographs, they just did it unprompted.

With the money raised, the massive and daunting task of translating a beloved TV show became the challenge. Thomas, though a wildly creative writer and TV director, had no experience in directing films. “You can be a really good director but still mess up your first couple of movies,” Bell stated. “He was the only person that could direct it. To not have him be in charge would have felt funny, so I’m really glad that he was.” Co-star Krysten Ritter, who plays Veronica’s frenemy, Gia, agrees. “He’s a good leader, he communicates well, and he’s supportive and encouraging,” Ritter said. “He’s such a talent that I’m not surprised he’s also a great director.”

Thomas himself realized the great task of directing a movie versus a TV episode. “The scope of the movie is much bigger than any episode of television that we did,” he said. “It starts in New York, it’s shot wider and has a different lighting aesthetic.” Bell added, “I kept saying, ‘Let’s not make just a long TV episode. Let’s have it be cinematic. Let’s go big.’ Otherwise, what’s the point?”

Bell isn’t just praised by her Veronica fans but by her co-workers and co-stars. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be as lucky again,” said co-star Jason Dorhring, who plays bad-boy Logan. “It’s so fun acting with Kristen; we’re right there, creating something so enjoyable. It’s different every time she does a take, and I just fall in love with her as an actress. She’s fantastic.”

 

Veronica Mars opens in theatres on March 14 and reunites the original cast including Kristen Bell, Jason Dorhing, Francis Capra, Chris Lowell, Krysten Ritter, Sam Huntington, Max Greenfield, Percy Daggs II, Ryan Hansen, Tina Majorino and Enrico Colantoni.

 

 

 

 

 

—Sarah Khan