'Veronica Mars' Movie Sequel Hinges on Disc Release





Warner releasing theatrical adaptation of former TV show in separate (no combo pack) Blu-ray Disc and DVD releases

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release the theatrical adaptation of former TV show “Veronica Mars” on Blu-ray Disc and DVD separately May 6.

Based on director Rob Thomas’ TV series (which The CW ended in 2007) and partially funded by a wildly-successful Kickstarter campaign, the Veronica Mars movie again stars Kristen Bell (and much of the original TV cast) as a former high-school sleuth who thought she left her past behind her, until a murder in her hometown pulls her back into her old life.

Warner, which is not releasing Mars as a Blu-ray combo pack, is retailing the Blu-ray and DVD titles at $29.98 and $28.98, respectively.

The Blu-ray features the theatrical version of the film and a digital version in Digital HD with UltraViolet functionality.



Blu-ray special video features include: “The Making of the Veronica Mars Movie,” “Welcome to Keith Mars Investigation,” “Game Show with Kristen Bell and Chris Lowell,” “On Set with Max Greenfield,” “Veronica Mars' Backers,” "It's Not All About You, Monkey,” “Young Veronica,” deleted scenes and a gag reel.

The DVD, which does not offer UV functionality, includes “The Making of the Veronica Mars Movie.”

The packaged-media releases could determine whether Warner greenlights a theatrical sequel — which reportedly would require the film generate at least $12 million in break-even revenue.

While the Mars movie came about after Thomas’ Kickstarter campaign generated a record $6 million from online contributors, the March 14 theatrical release produced a modest $3.3 million in ticket sales through April 14, excluding same-day digital sales.

With Thomas promising financial backers of the film who pledged at least $35 a digital HD copy of the movie, and a Blu-ray to $50 donors, creating the requisite revenue at retail for a sequel could be a challenge.

In addition, when technical problems arose for some online backers unable to access the digital copy on March 14, Warner agreed to reimburse any backer (at $35 or above) who was forced to buy a digital copy of Mars.