Bell: I'm in for 'Veronica Mars' movie

"Veronica Mars" creator Rob Thomas says he will make a movie based on the California detective show if fans donate $2 million before an April deadline. Show star Kristen Bell said in a message posted Wednesday on the fundraising website Kickstarter.com she is willing to reprise her role in the film if the financing comes together. Nearly $800,000 was pledged by Wednesday afternoon, with a goal of $2 million by April 12. "Almost since 'Veronica Mars' went off the air, there's been talk of making a movie. In that span, I've taken different tactics in dealing with the question of whether it might happen. To be clear, I've always wanted to make a 'Veronica Mars' movie. I love writing these characters and working with these actors. Kristen Bell has always wanted to make the movie," Thomas wrote on the website. Although he said he is consistently asked about his plans to bring the scrappy private detective to the big screen, the writer-director-producer said Warner Bros. wasn't convinced "there was enough interest to warrant a major studio-sized movie about Veronica." Thomas said he and Bell met with executives at the studio, who sanctioned their effort to see if they could raise some money on their own to make the film. "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. I believe it's the only one we've got. It's nerve-wracking. I suppose we could fail in spectacular fashion, but there's also the chance that we completely revolutionize how projects like ours can get made," Thomas wrote. "If the project is successful, our plan is to go into production this summer and the movie will be released in early 2014. ... Thanks to everyone who hasn't lost faith." "I am currently the happiest blonde in a hamster ball the world has ever seen. We have been waiting so long to make this movie dream a movie reality, and it's because of your commitment, your persistence, that we finally have a chance. We just have one more step to go," Bell wrote in a separate posting on the website. "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."