Veronica Mars (film)
Veronica Mars is a 2014 American neo-noir mystery film directed and produced by Rob Thomas, who co-wrote the script with Diane Ruggiero. It is a continuing film adaptation based on the television series of the same name created by Thomas. The film stars Kristen Bell as the title character, alongside an ensemble supporting cast that includes Jason Dohring, Francis Capra, Krysten Ritter, Percy Daggs III, Tina Majorino, Ryan Hansen, Chris Lowell, Max Greenfield and Enrico Colantoni, each reprising their roles. Set nine years after the events of the third season, the plot follows Veronica Mars returning to her hometown in Neptune to investigate the death of a former classmate allegedly murdered by Mars' ex-boyfriend, Logan Echolls.
Veronica Mars
- Rob Thomas
- Diane Ruggiero
Rob Thomas
Veronica Mars
by Rob Thomas
- Rob Thomas
- Dan Etheridge
- Danielle Stokdyk
Daniel Gabbe
Josh Kramon
- Warner Bros. Digital[1]
- Spondoolie Productions
- March 8, 2014 (SXSW)
- March 14, 2014 (United States)
107 minutes[2]
United States
English
$3.5 million[4]
After the series' cancellation in 2007, Thomas wrote a feature film script, continuing the story. However, Warner Bros. declined to fund the project. On March 13, 2013, Thomas and Bell launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter to produce the film. It attained its goal of $2 million in eleven hours, breaking several Kickstarter records, including being the largest successful film project on the website. After raising a budget of $5 million by the end of its run, principal photography began in June 2013 in Los Angeles, and concluded in July 2013. An additional day of shooting took place in December 2013.
Veronica Mars held its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 8, 2014, and was released in the United States in a limited theatrical release and through video on demand on March 14, 2014 by Warner Bros. Pictures.[1] The film received positive reviews from critics and audiences, with many praising the writing and Bell's performance. It earned $3.5 million worldwide against a $6 million budget. The revival of the series has also sparked continuations through different media, including two novels, co-written by Thomas and Jennifer Graham, and a web series centered on Hansen, titled Play It Again, Dick, released on CW Seed. In 2019, Hulu revived the original series for a fourth season.
Plot[edit]
Nine years after the events of the series finale, former teenage sleuth Veronica Mars has left Neptune, California, and moved to New York City, where she is in a relationship with Stosh "Piz" Piznarski and has a job offer from the prestigious law firm Truman-Mann and Associates.
Veronica is contacted by her ex-boyfriend Logan Echolls, now a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, who has been accused of murdering his girlfriend Carrie Bishop. She was a fellow Neptune High graduate who became the self-destructive pop star, "Bonnie DeVille". He is being bombarded for help from lawyers, and Veronica agrees to return to Neptune to aid Logan find one who will best represent him. She reunites with her father Keith Mars, Neptune's former sheriff-turned-private investigator, who shows her that corruption and classism are rife under Sheriff Dan Lamb, the brother of the previous Sheriff Don Lamb.
Veronica investigates the circumstances of Carrie's death. During her investigation, she attends her ten-year high school reunion with Wallace Fennell and Cindy "Mac" MacKenzie. There, she learns that former outlaw biker Eli "Weevil" Navarro is now a reformed family man. During the reunion, Veronica realizes Carrie's murder is connected to that of Carrie's best friend, Susan Knight, who disappeared off a boat nine years earlier.
After Veronica's nemesis Madison Sinclair projects a copy of Veronica's college sex tape with Piz, a fight breaks out. The reunion comes to an abrupt end as she sets the sprinklers off. Attending an after party, she speaks with Dick Casablancas, Luke Haldeman and his fiancée Gia Goodman, and Stu "Cobb" Cobbler, all of whom were with Susan and Carrie on the boat the night Susan disappeared. Meanwhile, while driving home from the reunion, Weevil stops to help a driver being harassed by bikers, only to be shot by her, Celeste Kane. The sheriff's department plants a gun so she can claim self-defense, and Keith agrees to prove Weevil's innocence.
Veronica concludes that those on Susan's boat years ago covered up the circumstances of her death and Carrie was killed because she threatened to confess. As compromising videos of Carrie are posted online, Veronica traces them back to Vinnie Van Lowe, who has been planting spyware on celebrities and selling the footage.
Veronica uses Vinnie's footage to prove Gia lured Logan to Carrie's the night of her murder, suggesting that she and Luke killed Carrie, framing Logan. Lamb ignores her evidence and refuses to follow up, but unbeknownst to him Veronica records the conversation. Having stayed in Neptune longer than planned, Veronica calls Piz in New York to explain that she cannot return yet, and he breaks it off. Truman-Mann rescinds their job offer, resulting in an argument between Keith and Veronica.
Keith meets with Deputy Sacks about Weevil's case, but they are attacked by someone in a truck who slams into Sacks' car, killing him and leaving Keith in critical condition. Veronica and Logan sleep together, establishing a relationship. She sends bugged flowers to Gia's and calls her with recordings of Carrie's voice, hoping to scare her into confessing to being behind her death. Gia panics and calls Cobb, revealing his involvement. Veronica goes to Gia's apartment to confront her, where Gia reveals that Cobb is the mastermind of Carrie's death and framing Logan: Susan overdosed, and he took photos of a panicked Carrie, Gia, and Luke dumping Susan's body and has been blackmailing them.
Veronica's bug broadcasts this via a radio frequency which she believed to be unused but is actually that of a local radio station. Cobb hears their conversation over the radio from his apartment in the building opposite, then shoots and kills Gia through the window before coming after Veronica. She calls the police and lures Cobb to the basement, beating him unconscious.
Logan returns to active duty in the Navy but promises to come back to Veronica. Cobb's photo and the secret recording of Lamb refusing to investigate Veronica's claims leak online, forcing Lamb to arrest Cobb, with calls to oust Lamb from office. Keith and Weevil recover from their injuries, but Weevil returns to the criminal lifestyle. Veronica takes over her father's private investigator business with Mac as her assistant, resolved to help fight Neptune's corruption.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Following the series' cancellation, Rob Thomas wrote a feature film script continuing the storyline, but Warner Bros. opted not to fund the project at the time. On March 13, 2013, Thomas and star Kristen Bell launched a fundraising campaign to produce the film through Kickstarter, offering various incentives to those who donated $10 or more. Bell, Thomas, Enrico Colantoni, Ryan Hansen, and Jason Dohring appeared in a video promoting the campaign,[19] and it attained the $2 million goal in less than eleven hours.[20] In its first day on Kickstarter, the project broke the record as the fastest project to reach first $1 million, then $2 million; it also achieved the highest minimal pledging goal achieved, and became the largest successful film project on Kickstarter at the time.[21][22] On its final campaign day, the project broke the record for the most backers on a single Kickstarter project, previously held by the Double Fine Adventure.[23] Afterwards, the film earned a greenlight from Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.[24]
The Kickstarter campaign ended on April 13, with 91,585 donors raising $5,702,153.[3]
On April 5, Thomas had completed the first draft of the script.[25] In early April, Dohring (Logan Echolls) officially signed on for the film.[26] In May, Thomas confirmed Colantoni would reprise his role as Keith Mars in the film.[27] In June, it was announced that Percy Daggs III, Chris Lowell, and Francis Capra would return as Wallace Fennel, Stosh "Piz" Piznarski, and Eli "Weevil" Navarro, respectively.[28][29] The same month, Sam Huntington (Luke Halderman), Amanda Noret (Madison Sinclair), Daran Norris (Cliff McCormack), and Tina Majorino (Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie) joined the cast.[30] On July 14, 2013, it was announced that Leighton Meester would not be reprising her role of Carrie Bishop. Rob Thomas stated "Sadly, Leighton was doing a different movie during the same time frame on the wrong coast. In the end, she was unavailable." She was replaced by music artist Andrea Estella, of whom Thomas is a fan.[12]
Filming[edit]
Principal photography began on June 17, 2013 in Los Angeles and lasted 28 days.[31] Initial filming involved 120 scenes, which Thomas described as "an aggressive schedule."[32] The Santa Monica Pier, the Vincent Thomas Bridge, The Edison at the Higgins Building, were among the 28 locations used for the filming. Scenes were also shot at the Arts District of Los Angeles and at Long Beach, California.[31] Following a test screening in October 2013, Warner Bros. agreed to pay for an additional day of shooting in order to clarify a plot point. As a result, two scenes were shot during the following December.[33]
Music[edit]
The musical score for Veronica Mars was composed by Josh Kramon, who previously wrote the original background music to the television series. A soundtrack album containing Kramon's score was released on March 14, 2014.[34]
Soundtrack[edit]
A compilation album of music featured in the film was released digitally by WaterTower Music on March 4, 2014.[35] The album features the television series' original title song "We Used to Be Friends" by The Dandy Warhols, as well as a new acoustic version by Alejandro Escovedo and other songs by Emperor X, Twin Sister, ZZ Ward, Sufjan Stevens, Max Schneider, Mackintosh Braun, Typhoon, Lou Rawls, and Gregory Alan Isakov.[36]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Preliminary box office tracking reports were initially up in the air due to the unprecedented financial nature of Veronica Mars.[46][47] The film earned $260,000 from its Thursday night showings (in 95 theaters),[48] and reached a $1 million 1.25-day total after expanding to 291 theaters on Friday.[49]
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $1,988,351 in 291 theaters in the United States, ranking #11 at the box office.[50] Analysts at the time noted that the unusual financial history and distribution of the film made it difficult to interpret these numbers or to compare them to those of other films.[51]
The film grossed $3,322,127 in domestic box office and $163,000 in foreign box office (Austria, Germany and United Kingdom) for a worldwide total of $3,485,127.[4]
Critical response[edit]
Veronica Mars has received positive reviews from critics, with many praising Bell's performance as the title character. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 80% approval rating, based on 138 reviews, with an average score of 6.70/10. The site's consensus states: "It might be a more entertaining watch for diehard fans of the show, but Veronica Mars offers enough sharp writing and solid performances to entertain viewers in the mood for a character-driven thriller."[52] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 62 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[53]
Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, citing it as "a solid cinematic turn for the Nancy Drew of the new millennium, [while] sure to delight crowdfunding backers and other fans of the source series."[54]