SAN DIEGO — Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas said Friday at Comic-Con that, given the chance, he does not think he would again use Kickstarter to fund another feature film based on the beloved TV show.
"I hope we make a ton of money on this movie and we get to do it through the normal channels," said Thomas at the end of the panel for the crowdfunded film. "I don't think Kickstarter was meant to fund huge hits," Thomas continued. "Next time, maybe the studio will just give us the money."
Thomas also noted that he's aiming to release two recently announced new Veronica Mars books shortly after the feature film arrives in theaters in "early 2014," and these novels will pick up Veronica's story where the film leaves off. Ultimately, however, he does want to continue making Veronica Mars movies: "I want to be a Bond franchise."
Before Thomas and his cast — including Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni, Tina Majorino, Chris Lowell, Ryan Hansen, Francis Capra, and Percy Daggs III— took to the stage, the crowd watched an extended preview of the movie, including footage of Kickstarter backers fulfilling their reward as featured extras in the film.
Even with the preview, the film's central mystery, however, still remains unrevealed; all Thomas felt comfortable saying is that the title character has not worked as a private investigator since the end of the show's third and final season. In a clip from the film, Jamie Lee Curtis plays a woman interviewing Veronica and asking about all the strange and dangerous cases she worked on as a teenager, asking Veronica — who now has a psychology degree — to diagnose herself.
"Compulsive, clearly," said Bell as Veronica Mars. "Addictive personality, possible adrenaline junkie."