Image Credit: Kickstarter
It’s a wrap for the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign. Since EW exclusively revealed the game-changing fundraiser last month, Rob Thomas & Co. accrued a mind-blowing $5,702,153 — well above the $2 million Kickstarter goal and Thomas’s personal goal of $5 million. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Patrick Ecclesine/The CW
Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas has sent the film’s Kickstarter backers a lengthy status update. Top news: He has just finished a first draft of the movie. “There’s a lot of work left to do, but it’s a movie I can’t wait to make. I think it’s also the movie you’ve been waiting to see,” he writes.
With one week left in the Kickstarter campaign that has raised more than $4.5 million, Thomas took the opportunity to encourage more fans to donate: The only Kickstarter record the project hasn’t yet broken is the total number of backers (Veronica Mars was approaching 70,000 as we typed this; Double Fine Adventure had 87,142). He also detailed where fans’ money is going: READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Tim Boyles/Getty Images
Logan is back. Rob Thomas has informed his Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter backers that Jason Dohring is officially on board. “We now have three actors officially cast. Veronica. Logan and the waiter who says, ‘Your check, sir,’” he wrote in an email Tuesday night. “Don’t worry. We’re busily working on bringing your favorites into the fold. As a Veronica Mars backer, you’ll be the first to know.” READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Everett Collection
Austin, Texas, the festival capital of the world!
This morning the ATX Television Festival (June 6-9) revealed exclusively to EW the first wave of programming for its second annual celebration of television’s history and future. Four punch-drunk days of world premieres, unaired pilots, cast reunions, beloved special guests, and trips down the memory lane of Rider Strong’s luxurious bang swoop.
True ’90s nostalgists can assess the aging process of their former small-screen friends at the first-ever cast reunion of Boy Meets World. Rider Strong, Ben Savage, Matt Lawrence, Maitland Ward, and series creator Michael Jacobs will all be in attendance. (Alas, Topanga Danielle Fishel has a wedding to attend that weekend and can’t be there in person.) ”Boy Meets World ripped away my childhood and ruined me as an adult. Wait, reverse that,” said Strong, who played Shawn Hunter. “I’m so happy to be a part of ATX Television Festival. Boy Meets World was a magical time in my life and it’s incredibly satisfying to know that it still resonates with people.”
ATX will also welcome three networks who come bearing premiere programming. AMC will world premiere the pilot episode of its new cop drama Low Winter Sun with several cast members, including Lennie James (The Walking Dead), in attendance. TNT will world premiere the first episode of season 2′s Perception, with series stars Rachel Leigh Cook and Scott Wolf on hand. And IFC will also join the party, bearing the first episode of season 2 of their talk show Comedy Bang! Bang! with host/star Scott Aukerman cracking wise in person. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Mark Davis/Getty Images
Chuck star Zachary Levi got all excited on Twitter when the Veronica Mars movie met its $2 million goal on Kickstarter (It has now earned $3.3 million) and got the green light.
1st, congrats to @IMKristenBell & @RobThomas for helping move entertainment a little closer in the direction I’ve always hoped it would go…—
Zachary Levi (@ZacharyLevi) March 13, 2013
2nd, to you Chucksters, believe that this news only bolsters my faith that I can help bring you a #ChuckMovie. Be patient. Stay tuned.—
Zachary Levi (@ZacharyLevi) March 13, 2013
Yep, you’re reading that hashtag correctly: a Chuck movie. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Ron P. Jaffe/CBS
Thought Rob Thomas’s efforts to fund a Veronica Mars movie would end when his project hit the $2 million mark — less than 11 hours after its Kickstarter launched? Think again.
As Thomas told tens of thousands of backers via email this morning, he’s not planning to pull the plug on his fund drive anytime soon. What’s more, Thomas and his team are working to allow fans from outside the United States to donate, which would significantly increase the project’s potential revenue. Though all of the Kickstarter’s big-ticket rewards — the chance to name a character in the movie, snag a screening for 50 friends, or even appear onscreen in a speaking role — have been snatched up already, Thomas also said that he’s planning to come up with more high-end “thank you” gifts in the coming days.
Check out Thomas’s full email below. For the record, as of 9:30 a.m. ET, the Kickstarter campaign has raised over $2.5 million.
Image Credit: Scott Garfield/UPN
You did it, Marshmallows!
Less than 11 hours after Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell announced a Kickstarter campaign, fans have raised the $2 million necessary to finance a Veronica Mars movie. It’s officially on!
“My mind is blown. I’ve been fantasizing about this and had to tell myself, ‘Stop it, Rob, you’re being silly. You’re setting yourself up for disappointment,’” the Mars creator tells EW. “And now today has exceeded the wildest pipe dream I let myself entertain. Holy cow. We better make a good movie. These amazing fans have stepped up. We better deliver.”
“I knew Veronica Mars fans were cool, but I had no idea they could rally with such power. 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,” says Bell.
The goal was to raise $2 million in 30 days. Warner Bros. Digital Distribution has agreed to put the movie into production and pick up the tab for marketing, promotion, and distribution. But exhibiting a passion that broke Kickstarter records in just six hours, fans have been flocking to the site since the page went up at 7:30 a.m. PT. And even though the goal has been reached, pledges can keep coming in.
In a previous interview with EW, Thomas spilled details about the upcoming movie’s plot, which will include — no surprise — murder, mystery and a high-school reunion. It will film this summer and be released in early 2014.
Don’t know what all the fuss is about? Now is the perfect time to catch up: The entire three-season run is streaming in full over on TheWB.com (the show originally aired from 2004-2007).
Read more:
‘Veronica Mars’ movie: Kristen Bell says it’s finally happening… if you help — EXCLUSIVE
Thank you, Veronica Mars! What other TV show would you donate to for a movie version? — VOTE
TV Reboots: Our 2013 Wish List!
UPDATE: The “Veronica Mars—the Movie” Kickstarter campaign has now reached its fundraising goal of $2 million.
A long time ago, we used to be friends, but I haven’t thought of you lately at all…
For some, that’s the opening line to a tune by The Dandy Warhols. For others, that’s the beginning to the theme song of a cult classic TV show that has never left their thoughts: Veronica Mars, the sophisticated teen drama/mystery serial starring Kristen Bell (Showtime’s House of Lies) as a strong and spirited new-model Nancy Drew whose adventures explored and exposed the rotten, complex injustice in her seaside town of Neptune, Calif. Ever since The CW canceled the series in 2007 after three seasons (the first two on UPN), can’t-let-go fans have pined for a movie. So have Bell and Mars creator Rob Thomas. “I have never fallen so deeply in love with a character,” Bell tells Entertainment Weekly. “ We all became so close, and the cancellation of the show left a huge hole in my heart. I would have put on Veronica Mars: The Circus to bring it back.”
Image Credit: Eric McCandless/ABC; Greg Gayne/NBC; Carin Baer/Fox; Chris Haston/FoxGot a scoop request? An anonymous tip you’re dying to share? Just want to say hi? You can send any/all of the above to ausielloscoop@ew.com
Question: Any more clues on who dies on Private Practice? —Katie
Ausiello: Well, Addison was already a long shot, but considering what happens to her in the finale, I can’t imagine Shonda Rhimes would be so cruel as to kill her. [MAJOR SPOILER ALERT] “You’ve watched her get really beat up all season,” says the boss lady, so “I wanted to sort of see her have a chance at really being happy…to finally sort of get the guy and find some peace.” (No word if the guy she gets is named Pete or Sam.)
Question: Do you know anything about House‘s season finale? —Eva
Ausiello: I know it will raise some big questions about a certain character’s future on the show.
Question: Please give me some The Good Wife scoop! —Hayley
Ausiello: Look for Alicia to make a pact with the devil — a.k.a. Eli — in order to save her job in the May 11 episode. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Robert Voets/UPNReports that the Veronica Mars movie is in the final stages of rigor mortis have apparently been greatly exaggerated. According to the franchise’s boss, Rob Thomas, there’s still a chance his teen sleuth will be reborn on the big screen. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Carin Baer/Fox; Steven Lippman/HBO; Mario Perez/ABGot a scoop request? An anonymous tip you’re dying to share? Just want to say hi? You can send any/all of the above to ausielloscoop@ew.com
Question: Hello fellow Smurf lover! Any new scoop on the upcoming season of True Blood? —Candy
Ausiello: I’m 90 percent certain this is new: Mariana Klaveno is returning as Bill’s maker, Lorena, for roughly six episodes.
Question: Do you know if True Blood‘s third season will feature Bubba? He’s not exactly a major character in the books, but I still love him. —Kristal
Ausiello: Unfortunately, Alan Ball says he couldn’t figure out a way to introduce Bubba “without it being cheesy,” adding, “I don’t know how to do it without either using an Elvis impersonator, which is cheesy, or having somebody and never seeing their face, just hearing their voice — and to me that sounds equally cheesy. So that’s just one of the casualties of the transfer from book to screen.”
Question: I want some juicy Grey’s Anatomy news, not somewhat juicy, but very juicy. C’mon you can do it! —Sarah
Ausiello: We’ll find out in an upcoming episode that a major character — one of the original Fab Five — grew up in foster care. READ FULL STORY »
Got a scoop request? An anonymous tip you’re dying to share? Just want to say hi? You can send any/all of the above to ausielloscoop@ew.com
Question: There’s speculation that Izzie cheats on Alex on Grey’s Anatomy. Is it true? —Molly
Ausiello: No, but the newlyweds will be dealt a major blow at the end of next week’s episode (the best of the season, IMHO). In fact, the crisis is so big that Izzie disappears for roughly five non-consecutive episodes. BTW, even though I knew Katherine Heigl’s mini-hiatus was coming, Izzie’s exit was no less powerful or emotional. And man, Heigl knocks it out of the park. She can be a real handful (see: Emmygate, 17-hour workdaygate, etc) but girlfriend delivers when it’s called for.
Question: When will Ellen Pompeo’s maternity leave from Grey’s Anatomy kick in on screen? —Zaiver
Ausiello: Unlike Izzie, Meredith isn’t going anywhere — although we’ll begin to see less of her (literally and figuratively) after this week’s episode. And her diminished screen time will make perfect sense given what happens tonight. READ FULL STORY »
In a perfect world, Kristen Bell would be at Comic-Con
promoting a Veronica Mars feature film. Instead, she’s
here on behalf of Astro Boy, the forthcoming computer-animated 3-D flick based
on the Japanese phenomenon in which she voices the role of Cora. (Freddie
Highmore, who’s making the PR rounds with Bell, voices the title role.) But
have no fear. I managed to get in a couple questions about Mars. And Gossip
Girl. And… well, see for yourself after the jump.
James Hibberd
@James_Hibberd
Lynette Rice
@EWLynette
