Veronica Mars Official Movie Thread

[marie]

THE SKINNY: At the tail end of this winter’s television critic’s event, Rob Thomas, who has resurrected his 1998 TV series CUPID for another go-around on ABC, announced that he’s currently working on a VERONICA MARS feature film (based on his short-lived UPN/CW show), now that his new series order has been reduced from thirteen episodes to eight episodes.

“That means I have time to write the VERONICA MARS movie,” he says. “But my writing the movie is half the battle. Someone else has to pay for it. Joel Silver does have a certain pile of money. He called on me saying ‘Can we do this now?’ Kristen wants to do it. Joel wants to do it and I want to do it. For me, that’s the next project.”

Although he wouldn’t reveal exactly what the story would be, he did tell iF, “it’s 70 percent broken in my head.”

“I’ve been struggling with this one plot point and I’m hopeful to figure that out,” he adds. “I watched the final episode of the series a few weeks ago and there were a lot of gaps and the plotting for the original came to me. I mean for the movie, I’m feeling like I’m on the right track now. But I don’t want to give that away yet.

In terms of cast, Thomas says he’s talked with Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni and Kristen Bell.

“Obviously,” he says with a smile.

And while there were always talks of the character of Veronica Mars ending up at the F.B.I., he says that’s not where the movie will be heading.

“The one thing that I will say is where it will pick up,” says Thomas. “I know we did that F.B.I. ‘what if’ thing, but we would not go to that place. I think it would open just days before the Hearst College Graduation. So Veronica would be sort of at the end of her college career.

[marie]

Exclusive 'Veronica Mars' movie update: 'It's close'

Veronica Mars fans, if you pray, pray hard. And if you don't, start, because the cult fave's long-rumored movie version is about to enter the anxiety-producing phase known as do-or-die-time.

"I'm preparing the pitch now -- literally now," Mars' main man, Rob Thomas, told me this morning. "I hope to go in and talk to [executive producer] Joel Silver and [Warner Bros.] in the next week or two to see if they're interested."

But first, Thomas has to iron out the endgame of the plot, which, as I first reported last fall, focuses on Veronica solving a crime in college rather than as an FBI agent. "I haven't figured it out yet," he says of the final act. "That's what I'm working on now. It's close. A few key details left to solve."

Thomas is quick to caution, however, that completing an outline and pitching the studio are just two steps of a much larger, more daunting process. "I have some fear that Veronica Mars fans believe that the chief hurdle in getting the movie made is my writing it," Thomas confesses. "Unfortunately, that's only one of several hurdles. I'm going to give it my best shot and let the chips fall where they may.

"It's entirely possible I won't have an answer at the end of the pitch," he continues. "They will want to consider [the pitch], look at some numbers -- whatever it is people on the business side do -- and then they'll give me some sort of response. Then, if they want to move forward, there's the deal-making that'll need to go on."

Surprisingly, one of the project's primary selling points won't be tagging along to the meeting. "Kristen [Bell] will not be joining me," he says. "I'm sure she has no desire to see how the sausage is made."

Perhaps not, but I think I know what K. Bell would like to see: a comments section overflowing with messages of support and encouragement for Thomas as his Mars mission approaches stage: critical. That's your cue to get busy writing!

[marie]

'Veronica Mars' movie looking more like a no-go

It doesn’t look good, Veronica Mars fans. Show creator Rob Thomas recently spilled to the New York Post that his plans for a film about the sleuth's college years had been put on hold. "I think honestly if we would have had the pitch ready a year earlier, it would be a 'go project,'" Thomas told the Post. "The hope that we would get a quick green light didn't materialize. This is the least optimistic I've felt in a while." Producer Joel Silver hasn’t given up just yet, but his publicist, Joy Fehily, acknowledged in an email to EW that there are still obstacles to getting the project off the ground: "Joel has a very strong attachment to Veronica Mars. Rob has a great idea for a movie, so Joel really hopes to find a way to make it." Warner Bros., who owns the property, did not respond to request for comment.