Veronica Mars the next Serenity?
Michael Ausiello reports that Rob Thomas wants to make a Veronica Mars movie, and namedrops Firefly as the little show that could - and did - inspire a feature film.
Browncoats abound in the comments section.
[ edited by ladygrey on 2007-05-23 17:43 ]
May 23 2007
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About membership.
So I'll repeat my comment.
A Veronica Mars big screen feature follow up?
It's interesting. The comparison to our beloved Firefly / Serenity, does make me wonder if the VM fanbase was ever as strong as us browncoats? Maybe I am biased, most of us are, but the browncoats as a fan community seems much stronger than VM's fanbase ever was.
Plus we did get those amazing numbers on DVD sales for the Firefly box set.
Numfar PTB | May 23, 11:46 CET
It would be amazing though. If anyone hears about any serious rallying for the cause, let me know.
mikeylikestv | May 23, 11:51 CET
Last night's Veronica Mars finale really left me wanting more, the emotional impact was tremendous (had me on my feet several times).
embers | May 23, 12:02 CET
Craig Oxbrow | May 23, 12:06 CET
http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Columnists/Ask-Ausiello/default.aspx
And MTV is reporting that Michael Patrick King just signed on to direct a big screen Sex In The City movie.He was a executive producer and creative force behind the show.They are hoping to start filming in the fall and the cast is in negotiations right now.
http://www.mtvmoviesblog.com/2007/05/23/sex-and-the-city-movie-snags-director-stars-in-talks/
Talk of Veronica Mars,Sex In The City and Gilmore Girls all getting on-screen continuations post series,just makes me want a big screen Buffy Movie all the more.
[ edited by Buffyfantic on 2007-05-23 18:11 ]
Buffyfantic | May 23, 12:11 CET
http://whedonesque.com/?comments=5039
Not going to hold my breath.
Simon | May 23, 12:15 CET
One thing to destroy hope for all (uhm, yay): Firefly fans didn't make Serenity get into production. Joss did. Universal did. So I think comparing fan bases, a little pointless.
What it comes down to here is: Does Rob have the contacts to get it off the ground? Would anybody fund it? I've no idea of the answer of those questions, but for the Veronica Mars fans I know, I hope yes.
[ edited by gossi on 2007-05-23 18:38 ]
gossi | May 23, 12:34 CET
I have no doubt that Rob Thomas could make an excellent movie based on VM, but I think by its very nature it would have to be quite different from the show, just as Serenity had to be different- for example, by focusing really on two of the nine main characters.
I'd love to know how Joss feels about VM's future. It's a shame he isn't now in the position of someone like Lucas or Spielberg who has the resources available to support something like VM, as well as the Buffyverse. Although I think it would be really interesting to see Joss and Rob work together in the future.
Razor | May 23, 12:43 CET
Rogue Slayer | May 23, 12:50 CET
toast | May 23, 12:54 CET
MrArg | May 23, 12:59 CET
I don't think we'll ever get the right amount of closure with Veronica Mars if it's wrapped up in a film. The only way is if we get the show back and it runs its course and it ends when it ends.
Losing this show is a travesty. A true loss. A death. Just like Firefly was.
The bitterness may someday subside, but I'll miss this show and these characters forever.
TheZeppo | May 23, 13:18 CET
I'm all for a feature film.
LmR | May 23, 13:19 CET
The show would've been completely re-vamped and while we'd still watch, it'd be like investing in a new show.
Considering all of that, I'm becoming more accepting of the season-turned-series finale.
I mean, I'm still pissed and later I'll cry into my dvd box sets, but for the moment, I'm holding it together pretty well.
TheZeppo | May 23, 13:24 CET
LillyKane | May 23, 13:41 CET
ladygrey | May 23, 13:54 CET
TheZeppo | May 23, 13:55 CET
Losing this show is a travesty. A true loss. A death. Just like Firefly was.
TheZeppo
I'm really sad and angry Veronica is canceled, too. The show was just getting really great again. But, it's not as bad, in my opinion, as the Firefly cancelation was though.
Heh. Nothing changes.
http://whedonesque.com/?comments=5039
Simon
Well, we are actually getting the Futurama continuation (that Ghost Spike was afraid would never come) later this year.
the Groosalugg | May 23, 13:56 CET
I don't know if there is or will be anything else on the TV dial that will give me the range of emotions that were in the final scenes of last night's episodes. I've looked, I'm a channel flipper, I'll try pretty much anything, but shows like Veronica Mars don't come along very often. It wasn't always easy viewing, because you didn't always get what you wanted or expected, but it was a show that looked both ways, past and future, working angles in plot and characterization that unfolded over weeks and months and even years. Which can make it a sometimes unsatisfying weekly TV show, but a great DVD, and oh-so-necessary viewing (and re-viewing) for this couch potato.
I'm going to miss it.
bigsofty | May 23, 14:17 CET
I'd be up for any continuation but also feel like its wishful thinking.
SaltyGoodness | May 23, 14:29 CET
I thought, "There will never be another Buffy."
But before that, when Freaks and Geeks suffered a similar fate to Firefly's, I thought, "There will never be another Freaks and Geeks."
I felt the same way about the British Coupling, but How I Met Your Mother is reminiscent enough to fill the void left by that show's departure.
Same with the new Doctor Who, and how it's currently satisfying the fantasy/sci-fi/soap opera/comedy hole left by Buffy.
That's a lot of tv show name dropping (I could go further, trust me), but my point is: although we'll never have another Veronica Mars, we WILL continue to have shows that are just as challenging, intelligent, unpredictable, ahead-of-its-time, and wonderfully unrivaled.
TheZeppo | May 23, 14:43 CET
I also think it's wrong to throw Firefly around as a precedent for these things. Yes, Serenity got made, but it didn't exactly tear up the box office. I think its mediocre success is more of a precedent in the minds of execs than its existence.
Resolute | May 23, 14:47 CET
I hope that's true, but I'm starting to think we're nearing the end of an era, where network television is concerned anyway. It'd be nice if we actually had to choose between a number of quality shows on any given night rather than waiting for them to come along one or two at a time. Most nights I find myself at the computer or reading. Maybe I'm just more discriminating these days.
bigsofty | May 23, 15:14 CET
As for the same thing happening for Veronica Mars... I think by nature her detective noir with a twist thing works pretty well (Like Brick, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Sin City, etc) so it'd be interesting to catch K-Bell in whatever form comes up next. I'm a bit surprised that they're being so evasive about the series ending though. I know that Gilmore Girls sort of came unexpectedly, but they knew to prepare for it and fans did too, long before the series actually ended as I understand it.
orangewaxlion | May 23, 15:16 CET
Another is budget -- obviously much cheaper to produce than a an effects and stunt-work heavy space opera like "Serenity."
To me, this project stands or falls on how the suits assess the appeal of Kristin Bell, and she's pretty #@#$# appealling. Besides, I doubt Thomas would mention if there wasn't at least some interest out there.
bobster | May 23, 15:16 CET
I'd help, but I don't have enough levels of Wizard yet. Sorry.
kishi | May 23, 15:42 CET
If this AND GG had movies, I would squeee so loud the entire universe could hear me.
Harmalicious | May 23, 17:53 CET
I wasn't sad about the cancellation--I was more sad about the deteriorating quality--but now it MUST come back...!
VM's nowhere near as good as Firefly, and I only had a few sniffles instead of the waterfalls Firefly's cancellation caused, but I'm dying for more.
UnpluggedCrazy | May 23, 18:09 CET
AthenaMuze | May 23, 18:25 CET
OOooooh, wait, you mean the ikeSpay ovieMay? Yes, I still see the wretched crap on the SciFi network like 'Kaw' or 'Boo' or 'Mansquito' and wonder why that stuff couldn't be scrapped in favor of one freakin' ikeSpay ovieMay???
Rogue Slayer | May 23, 18:44 CET
ladygrey | May 23, 18:49 CET
Seems like a lot of people are using Firefly/Serenity as an example of theatrical releases made from tv shows. Serenity wasn't even a box office success - unfortunately.
leiasky | May 23, 19:03 CET
The reason I think Veronica Mars was so appealing in its first season was that it had a character in an instantly sympathetic position (drugged and date raped; disappeared mother; just-murdered best friend) who rose above all of it with enough power and strength and will and all of those words to track down her drugger and date rapist and help prevent it from happening to other girls, find her mother, and expose her best friend's murderer.
The show started to go downhill for me when the stories became less about Veronica's character than clues and red herrings and big reveals.
WHICH IS WHY I loved the second half of the third season. We love the show because we love the character. For me, the show WAS the character. I don't see how a film could be any less personal. It might fill two hours of our lives with a fun rollercoaster of a mystery, but I'd bet we wouldn't have a seemingly throwaway scene between father and daughter or two friends in a lunch line.
Veronica Mars, the show, banked heavily on those exchanges. Stripped of that, it's CSI: Neptune.
TheZeppo | May 23, 19:23 CET
Or maybe it's just me.
In any case, I'd rather the show just stay as is. I don't think we need a big screen continuation. But then I don't think we need an Angel Season Six either, and I KNOW that one is just me. *shrug*
Haunt | May 23, 23:10 CET
dingoes8 | May 24, 00:55 CET
If it keeps him away from television, I'm all for it. I find it ridiculous that he didn't give the audience a better finale, something to see the show off - after barely getting a full season three and the writing being on the wall all year!
crossoverman | May 24, 01:34 CET
gossi | May 24, 03:06 CET
As for getting it made, Joel Silver could get it green lit, ain't no doubt about that. I know he's gotten a low budget movie made for a friend of mine so this is really possible. Whether it will happen, I don't know, but yeah baby, it's very possible.
RazorBlade | May 24, 03:29 CET
It got a 13 episode third season and was lucky to get the back seven - not even the back nine for a full 22.
And even if the FBI thing was likely to go ahead, it would have basically been a different show. So he should have written a conclusion to the first three years and not left it so open.
If they really wanted to keep the show, writing a better finale wouldn't have changed their minds.
crossoverman | May 24, 04:30 CET
Pumps | May 24, 07:30 CET
TychoCelchuuu | May 24, 09:16 CET
I hope it has an adult-ish age Veronica working at the FBI.
It makes sense that these characters would not be around each other for years and their reunion in some sort of circumstance really makes the whole "we used to be friends..." aspect much more fitting.
Duncan's daughter could be of speaking age. The mother could come back...but all of this doesn't even have to be a part of the main plot of it.
I think a feature film written and directed by Rob Thomas (perhaps the only man who can handle the VM universe with complete correctness) is a positive idea. Perhaps the actors will get more "name" value as the years tack on and it will make the film more salable.
The finale was great. It redeemed Logan's recent lameness and used all the characters as they should be used.
I really really hope that when the movie gets made that the original theme song is somehow primely placed. I miss the hell out of that song. I never got used to the new one.
GO VM MOVIE! Woo-Hoo!
Dolphin Tamer | May 24, 12:00 CET
Could it be that this story line was written to fulfill the original order and when the last to episodes were axed they did not fully rewrite the arc...just chopped it in half?
newcj | May 24, 12:21 CET
Actually, I felt that way too, and I also thought of "Not Fade Away." I'm not sure how different the finale would have been had it been a "series" finale. It would probably have been open-ended, though perhaps in a slightly different way. But I think the down-beat life-goes-on-and-isn't-it-a-muddle ending suited the show perfectly.
bigsofty | May 24, 12:43 CET
Yes this. I wouldn't even call Serenity a mediocre success moneywise (I doubt it is in the black almost two years after release). Selling a VM feature using any comparison to Serenity will not help Rob Thomas at all. Best to just not mention it.
IrrationaliTV | May 24, 16:01 CET
That was just wrong and funny.
QuoterGal | May 24, 16:11 CET
Emma Frost | May 24, 17:37 CET
The actual finale worked better, partly because of its efficiency: it dealt with the Parker/Logan breakup quickly early on, and then in turn had Veronica getting help from Wallace and then Weevil and then Mac to solve it, emphasizing her community. Keith giving up everything for V broke my heart. Logan standing up for her, damn the consequences and life-threats, and Veronica's little look of awe, warmed it. The last shots were perfect, and power to RT et al. for ending the show on an emotional note (Veronica just votes and walks out into the rain) rather than a plot one.
Still, the Castle plotline pissed me off more'n'a little. 11th hour introductions can work (c.f. The Circle of the Black Thorn, which is somewhat similar), but we know nothing about this group's motivations, membership, level of influence, besides just "a lot." Veronica's decision not to reveal the truth on this scale is unprecedented, but was only briefly mentioned before she inexplicably gave the list of members to Nish (which is it Veronica?). Jake Kane being tossed in there felt like an attempt to add resonance where none existed: there's really no reason that he couldn't have been anyone. The giant paintings of Lilly and Duncan struck a chord, but a hollow one; the Castle doesn't really have the slightest thing to do with Duncan or Lilly, nor does their paintings signal much anything to Veronica except whose house she's breaking into. I suppose there are some neat full circle effects though (once again Jake Kane runs Keith out of office, but this time it's for hiding the truth rather than pursuing it).
But overall it worked as a finale, and I've been pretty down on this whole season. I'm nervous about giving RT another shot honestly, but I'd go see it if it happened--provided it wasn't just about Veronica, and had most of Mac and Keith and Logan and Wallace and Weevil...and Dick, 'cause Ryan Hansen is just so good at making a jackass seem cool. It probably won't, natch, but I guess one could dream.
WilliamTheB | May 25, 02:26 CET
Haunt | May 25, 03:24 CET
WilliamTheB | May 25, 07:33 CET