The first fully funded major motion picture project funded by Kickstarter opens in theaters today. The Veronica Mars movie has the internet to thank for that, for without they generous funds, they would not be here. It’s success on Kickstarter instantly went viral. The fact that they were able to meet and surpass their goals went viral.
It has almost been a year since Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell were able to get the funds necessary to make this movie happen. Their success has sparked many attempts copy that same success. The Veronica Mars movie achieved so many milestones in the days that the Kickstarter campaign launched. For instance, it was one of the first films to reach a $1 million in one day, and $2 million in two days. Overall, the project received $5.7 million from dedicated fans who were intent on getting one of their beloved shows the big screen treatment. Hit the jump to see how going viral on Kickstarter helped the Veronica Mars a reality, and how their could be a sequel in the near future.
Now that they have made it happened, Warner Bros. Studios is doing a simultaneous theater and VOD release. This isn’t a film that had the budget to see as wide of a release as some of the other major tentpoles like Need For Speed. In fact it is only opening in 291 theaters, against Need For Speed‘s 3,000 and Tyler Perry’s The Single Moms Club‘s 1896 theater count. So while it’s obvious a wide release wasn’t in the budget, it should do relatively well in both the box office and VOD (although those numbers are not as easily disclosed as the box office is) for the amount that was made with.
However this does prove that if you give the fans a chance to make a movie happen through crowdsourcing sites like KickStarter or IndieGoGo, they will make it happen. Fans will spend anywhere from $1 to $10,000 to help contribute to the film’s budget. And like many Kickstarter projects, the more you donate, the better the incentive. In this instance, if you spent $10,000, you were able to appear in the film in a small cameo role. Other incentives included walking the red carpet premiere, getting personalized voicemails, signed posters, and more. There is no denying that Veronica Mars’ success on KickStarter instantly went viral.
“This movie would not exist if we had not gone down this path,” Thomas told The Huffington Post.
The film has actually received some pretty descent reviews, and has already earned a 75% Fresh Rating on RottenTomatoes. So if the numbers are good and the critics are responding well to the film, there is a chance that a Veronica Mars sequel could happen. Again, that all depends on not only those who donated, because we all know they will see it, but those who didn’t donate. How will they respond to a movie that was funded by the fans? Obviously critics have had their say, but this weekend should tell us if a sequel could happen.
Veronica Mars is out now in theaters and is available on VOD.
