Rob Thomas — the creator of the cult TV series "Veronica Mars," which debuts as a feature film on Friday — told Take Two that the movie is aimed squarely at the Kickstarter fans who donated $5.7 million to get the movie made.
"My belief was that the fans are funding the movie," Thomas said in an interview with Take Two's Alex Cohen. "I really wrote that first draft of that script trying to make the fans of the movie happy."
But as the buzz of the film increased, the pressure mounted to make a film that could appeal to people who haven't seen the original series. Thomas said that perhaps they didn't think of those "newbies" enough, and altered a few things — including adding a "recap" at the start of the film — to get them up to speed.
"My hope now is that 'Veronica Mars' fans can bring their boyfriends, girlfriends, friends. It'll be a good ride for everyone, and that people who've just sort of heard about Veronica Mars might be curious enough to go check it out," he said.
"Veronica Mars" has her fans on Kickstarter to thank for existing at all. The original TV series, starring Kristen Bell, was a critical and cult favorite about a teenaged detective in the fictional, seedy seaside town of Neptune, Calif.
But after its cancellation in 2007, fans were left in the lurch about what happened to Mars and her friends and family.
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A year ago this week, however, Bell and Thomas started a campaign on Kickstarter: If they get people to donate at least $2 million, they will make a movie to document the next chapter in Veronica's life.
It only took 10 hours to reach that goal, and by the end they raised more than $5 million.
Thomas admits that, in a world where shows like "True Detective" are being heralded as the new Golden Age of Television, "Veronica Mars" was ahead of her time and wouldn't have been canceled in the first place.
"I do think we would've done better now," said Thomas. "It feels like now how much people care about the show starts to factor in a little bit more."
Also, fun fact: Several KPCC staffers are huge fans of the show, like reporter Molly Peterson, web producer Mike Roe and Take Two producer/reporter Leo Duran.
When they heard part of the movie was filmed right here at KPCC, they went crazy. So Bell was game for recreating her KPCC scenes right here with Mike Roe and Off-Ramp's John Rabe.
You can get your "Veronica Mars" fix early with a special reunion of the cast Thursday night at PaleyFest at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, which will also be live-streamed on KPCC.org, starting at 8 p.m. More info and tickets here.