# Veronica Mars Movie!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 15, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436 "2014-02-15T19:07:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/21 "2014-03-15T07:03:53Z")

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> [@twickster](#):
>
> Loved all the cameos – esp. the music cameo, where the street musician in NYC was playing the theme song.
> 
> Very satisfying.

I’m reasonably sure that was Courtney Taylor of the Dandy Warhols reprising the song.

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**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/22 "2014-03-15T12:29:15Z")

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I wasn’t thrilled with it, but had a good time. The interaction with Mac and Wallace was spot-on for old friends. However, the only thing suckier than her relationship with Logan is how many women are\* into\* her relationship with Logan - it’s a sad testament on society that the violent, damaged guy with impulse control issues is seen as her true love, and there were a lot of scenes playing to that. Hell, the entire role was written to pander to them (full dress Navy uniform - really?).

I’d rather find out Keith is dating Celeste Kane.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/23 "2014-03-15T13:31:59Z")

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> [@twickster](#):
>
> Loved all the cameos – esp. the music cameo, where the street musician in NYC was playing the theme song.
> 
> Very satisfying.

It may seem minor, but my favorite little moment was when deputy Sacks showed up.

“Sacks, I have to give you credit. Rocking the 'stache until it came back!”

My wife and I loved it and surprisingly, he was given a good storyline in the movie.

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/24 "2014-03-15T14:41:30Z")

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> [@JSexton](#):
>
> I’m reasonably sure that was Courtney Taylor of the Dandy Warhols reprising the song.

I suspected there was more to that than I was catching.

I forgot to look for the scene where the Kickstarter supporter gave someone a check in the restaurant – when was that?

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/25 "2014-03-15T14:43:32Z")

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Merged duplicate threads

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/26 "2014-03-15T16:32:50Z")

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The [Friday](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2014-03-14&p=.htm) numbers are in over at Box Office Mojo. It did really well. $1M but on only 291 screens for an average of $3,450. That’s a very nice per-screen average for such a movie. (Of course this pales to _The Grand Budapest Hotel_ but that’s a deliberate slow roll out for a much anticipated movie.)

All of this goes directly into the pockets of Fox Searchlight since AMC (like other chains) didn’t want to show it at all and Fox had to rent the theaters. I bet Regal and others are almost sorry they passed on it.

One mistake Fox Searchlight made was in simultaneously releasing it on the Net as part of the Kickstarter fundraising bonus. Movie chains _hate_ that.

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**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/27 "2014-03-15T17:06:57Z")

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I haven’t participated in any other Kickstarter campaigns, but I have to say that Rob Thomas and the gang did a fantastic job of keeping the backers in the loop every step of the way with the project. Everyone involved deserves a pat on the back for their effort and enthusiasm and making it a great experience for the fans.

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**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/28 "2014-03-15T17:30:53Z")

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> [@JSexton](#):
>
> I’m reasonably sure that was Courtney Taylor of the Dandy Warhols reprising the song.

Nope. Alejandro Escovedo.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/29 "2014-03-15T17:35:01Z")

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I love that Leo insists he heard that VMars joined the FBI.

“Maybe in another life…” she replies.

Hilarious.

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**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/30 "2014-03-15T17:44:07Z")

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> [@epbrown01](#):
>
> I wasn’t thrilled with it, but had a good time. The interaction with Mac and Wallace was spot-on for old friends. However, the only thing suckier than her relationship with Logan is how many women are\* into\* her relationship with Logan - it’s a sad testament on society that the violent, damaged guy with impulse control issues is seen as her true love, and there were a lot of scenes playing to that. Hell, the entire role was written to pander to them (full dress Navy uniform - really?).
> 
> I’d rather find out Keith is dating Celeste Kane.

While I always found Logan to be an interesting character, their relationship always made me sad–Veronica desperate for him to be something he wasn’t, and Logan unable to become what she wanted him to be. As a woman, I never thought of it as particularly healthy or satisfying for either of them, and Logan always seemed a bit too … unfinished to be attractive. The dress uniform didn’t do much for me, but when Veronica came outside her house to find him leaning against the car, I finally understood what she saw in him. 🙂

All in all, I thought it was the most satisfying movie I’ve seen in a while. I would have liked to see more of the Weevil stuff, and I feel like Wallace got shorted a little on screen time, but I enjoyed the hell out of it.

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**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/31 "2014-03-15T18:02:50Z")

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> [@ftg](#):
>
> One mistake Fox Searchlight made was in simultaneously releasing it on the Net as part of the Kickstarter fundraising bonus. Movie chains _hate_ that.

I was wondering if the box office numbers account for online sales. It seems to be generating a lot of traffic on Amazon (and I bought it there rather than see it in theaters for about the same money).

The big laugh-out-loud moment for me was the end of her opening monologue: “The new me? People say I’m a marshmallow.” Not as a shout-out to fans that have adopted that horrible name, but as a callback to the pilot’s last line.

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/32 "2014-03-15T19:29:27Z")

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> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> I love that Leo insists he heard that VMars joined the FBI.
> 
> “Maybe in another life…” she replies.
> 
> Hilarious.

Yeah, I laughed.

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**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/33 "2014-03-15T20:37:37Z")

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> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> I love that Leo insists he heard that VMars joined the FBI.
> 
> “Maybe in another life…” she replies.
> 
> Hilarious.

> [@twickster](#):
>
> Yeah, I laughed.

I know that referred to the possible follow-up series that never happened, but when the show was on, I always wished they’d played more with the crazy stories that always floated around about her - sort of a “Snake Plissken? I heard you were dead” bit. There were a couple of mentions (“Remember that time those guys were going to blow up the school?” “No one tried to blow up the school.” “They found a bug in the teacher’s lounge but they couldn’t expel her because she had so much dirt on everyone!” “Really?” “\<sigh\> no.”) but it was good for more mileage.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/34 "2014-03-15T20:44:15Z")

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> [@epbrown01](#):
>
> I was wondering if the box office numbers account for online sales. It seems to be generating a lot of traffic on Amazon (and I bought it there rather than see it in theaters for about the same money).

Box office is just theater tracking. A lot of things depend on this, star and other salaries in some cases, future charges for TV, etc.

It is impossible to get an idea as to Net sales/rentals as many players don’t reveal any useful data. Plus at this point, many movies are “packaged” so that Netflix is getting a lot of movies from a studio for one set percentage or fee. So there may not be an easy way to tell how much money is earned by the studio due to a hot movie vs a dud in the same package. (And of course this issue is _never_ taken advantage of by the studio to cheat people out of their share of earnings!;))

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/35 "2014-03-16T16:54:35Z")

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The weekend estimates are [in](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2014&wknd=11&p=.htm) and things are still looking good, but not as good as the Friday numbers. 10th or maybe 11th depending on final numbers. Apparently there was a lot more interest on Friday than later in the weekend. This means the movie is front loaded and box office could trail off rapidly. (FS probably isn’t intending to keep the movie in theaters long anyway.)

Still not bad for a movie that wasn’t intended for theaters in the first place.

(If _Need for Speed_ had VM’s per-screen average, it would have finished in first instead of third. And if had 76% fresh instead of 24% rotten at RT, it would have done even better.)

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**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/36 "2014-03-16T17:15:19Z")

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Does this film stand alone? Is it even comprehensible to someone who has never seen a single episode of the series?

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**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/37 "2014-03-16T17:27:26Z")

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> [@gaffa](#):
>
> Does this film stand alone? Is it even comprehensible to someone who has never seen a single episode of the series?

The opening voice-over does a recap of the series, as well as the job interview scene. Even so, most of the movie is an in-depth callback to the series - if you’re not up-to-date, certain parts are out of the blue. For example, pretty much no character’s backstory is explained - the dialogue makes it clear Veronica knows them but not who they are. The reaction to Mac’s new job means nothing if you haven’t watched the show, for instance. So you can follow the plot, but you miss a lot of nuance if you haven’t seen the show.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/38 "2014-03-16T17:49:16Z")

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> [@gaffa](#):
>
> Does this film stand alone? Is it even comprehensible to someone who has never seen a single episode of the series?

Actually, I’d say it does not stand alone completely and it would be hard to make it do so. However, the mystery is pretty good and the main story does pull you along well enough to be watched on its own.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/39 "2014-03-16T17:56:12Z")

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> [@ftg](#):
>
> The weekend estimates are [in](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2014&wknd=11&p=.htm) and things are still looking good, but not as good as the Friday numbers. 10th or maybe 11th depending on final numbers. Apparently there was a lot more interest on Friday than later in the weekend. This means the movie is front loaded and box office could trail off rapidly. (FS probably isn’t intending to keep the movie in theaters long anyway.)
> 
> Still not bad for a movie that wasn’t intended for theaters in the first place.
> 
> (If _Need for Speed_ had VM’s per-screen average, it would have finished in first instead of third. And if had 76% fresh instead of 24% rotten at RT, it would have done even better.)

You can’t just consider ticket sales in isolation in determining if a movie is a success.

_Need for Speed_ (which made $17,808,000 this weekend) might look like it did better than _Veronica Mars_ (which made $2,021,000). But _Need for Speed_ cost $66,000,000 to make versus _Veronica Mars_’ $6,000,000. So _Veronica Mars_ has a better shot at making a profit.

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**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/veronica-mars-movie/681436/40 "2014-03-16T18:25:05Z")

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> [@gaffa](#):
>
> Does this film stand alone? Is it even comprehensible to someone who has never seen a single episode of the series?

Actually I’d be very curious to hear the reaction from someone with zero knowledge of the series. I _think_ they’d enjoy it, but it’s hard to say. Anyone want to throw themself on that proverbial grenade?  
My wife and I saw it last night and enjoyed it a lot. The banter and one-liners were fantastic, and it was fun to catch up all our old friends (and enemies). The mystery was solid, and Veronica’s character arc was interesting.

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