“Veronica Mars” mastermind Rob Thomas set a goal of financing a $2 million “Mars” movie within 30 days – and it took him way less than 30 hours.
Setting a movie kickstarter record, the project received its first $2 million in just under 10 hours from about 32,000 donors.
That averages out to about $62.50 per backer. $62.50 is almost exactly what I spend on comic books every month!
And with 29 days to go, Zeus only knows how swollen that budget is going to get.
Maybe they’ll have enough to hire Jeff Bridges or Michael Fassbender to play the mayor of Neptune. Maybe they’ll even have enough to pay for Amanda Seyfried to reprise the ghost of Lilly Kane.
In this age of streaming and DVRs, does this mark a major turning point for the motion picture and television business models?
Does this mean we might be soon be getting fan-financed movies built around “Firefly,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Twin Peaks,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Deadwood” or “Farscape”?
If the next “Star Trek” TV series doesn’t pull enough viewers to remain on the air, will fans be given the option of financing it themselves?
Can you see the gears turning in the brains of Chris Carter, Mitch Hurwitz and J. Michael Straczynski?
The “Veronica Mars” kickstarter exists because rightsholder Warner Bros. permitted it. Will Fox, Paramount, Universal and Disney prove as willing?
A lot will likely depend on the revenue this new “Veronica Mars” project generates from cinemas, Blu-rays, pay cable, basic cable and so on.
Stay tuned.
