Veronica Mars movie hits $2M Kickstarter goal in 10 hours

Veronica Mars fans got one step closer towards seeing bringing their favorite teen detective back on the screen – the big screen, that is: A Kickstarter project to raise funds for a Veronica Mars movie that show creator Rob Thomas launched hit its funding goal of $ 2 million less than 10 hours after going live on the crowdsourcing site.

The project is remarkable for a number of reasons:

It’s the fastest growing Kickstarter ever, hitting $ 1 million in just over four hours. Of course, these kinds of records are a bit in flux: The previous record holder Torment: Tides of Numenera, a Kickstarter for an RPG, reached its $ 1M just a week ago.
Veronica Mars gives Kickstarter some Hollywood star power. The project comes with the blessing and active support of Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell, who wrote Wednesday:

“You have banded together like the sassy little honey badgers you are and made this possibility happen. i promise if we hit our goal, we will make the sleuthiest, snarkiest, it’s-all-fun-and-games-‘til-one-of-you-gets-my-foot-up-your-ass movie we possibly can.”

The fundraising campaign isn’t just another indie movie – it comes with the blessing of Warner Bros. Here’s how Thomas put it:

“Kristen and I met with the Warner Bros. brass, and they agreed to allow us to take this shot. They were extremely cool about it, as a matter of fact. Their reaction was, if you can show there’s enough fan interest to warrant a movie, we’re on board. So this is it. This is our shot.”

Of course, even the $ 2 M funding doesn’t mean that the plan for the movie can’t still derail. Thomas acknowledged himself that there are still numerous challenges ahead, including the schedule of everyone involved – something that was the biggest challenge for Netflix’s upcoming Arrested Development revival.

But the mere fact that fans took this project this far, this quick is going to have an impact on Hollywood – and possibly give a number of previously abandoned TV shows a second shot.