This Cult Movie Was Fully Funded By Fans, Grossed Over $3.5 Million in Box Office
There are cult series, and there are CULT series. Veronica Mars clearly falls into the second category.
The original show ran from 2004-2007. In only three seasons the teen noir drama became highly acclaimed and engrossed a massive fan following. Which was not to be disregarded by the show's creator Rob Thomas.
In 2013 Rob Thomas approached Warner Bros. about making a movie continuation of the series, but the studio was hesitant to invest in the project.
So, Thomas turned to Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform, to gauge fan interest and raise funds for the movie.
The response has exceeded the most positive expectations. The fans' reaction was overwhelming, with the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign reaching its $2 million goal in just 10 hours.
By the end of the campaign, over 91,000 people had contributed a total of $5.7 million, making it the largest film project ever funded on Kickstarter at the time.
This unprecedented success sparked discussions about the future of movie financing and the power of fan engagement.
As more and more filmmakers turned to crowdfunding platforms, it seemed like Kickstarter could become a significant player in the film industry. Spoiler: it didn't.
The Veronica Mars movie was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $3.5 million at the box office and receiving positive reviews from critics and fans alike.
Its success paved the way for some other fan-funded projects. However, not all fan-funded movie projects have been successful.
In 2015, Zach Braff raised over $3 million through Kickstarter for his film Wish I Was Here, but the movie received mixed reviews and struggled at the box office.
The success or failure of fan-funded movie projects often depends on the size and passion of the fan base, as well as the quality of the project.
While there are certainly financial risks involved in relying on fan funding, this approach can also offer filmmakers the chance to connect directly with their audience.
The success of the Veronica Mars movie and all the love shown to the series has led to a fourth season of the series that was released on Hulu in 2019.
There's no word as of right now whether any kind of continuation is on the horizon, but if Veronica Mars has taught us anything, is that everything's possible.