A year ago, no one would have expected to see a Veronica Mars panel at San Diego Comic-Con. However, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, the show is back in movie form and is in the middle of production. The cast along with producer/director Rob Thomas were on hand to discuss what was going on with the film as well as showing off footage that was hot off the presses. The cast members who appeared on the panel today included Kristen Bell, Francis Capra, Enrico Colantoni, Percy Diggs III, Jason Dohring, Ryan Hansen, Chris Lowell, Tina Majorino, and Krysten Ritter.

Check out our photo gallery from today’s panel here below! And watch the video footage from the film here.

The panel was moderated by Jeff Jensen, and started off with a clip that showed plenty of footage from the TV show and a bit of background on the Kickstarter campaign. After that, we got the first look at the movie. The film catches up with everyone 10 years after their high school graduation. Veronica is working as a lawyer in New York, and is being interviewed by Jamie Lee Curtis. She hasn’t worked as a PI since the last time we saw her. She then goes back for her high school reunion and gets back with the old gang. All of the dialogue and the characters felt just like they did in the series.

Rob Thomas described the movie as having a Godfather 3 feel to it. He said that the plot involves Veronica working her first case since the end of season 3.

Kristen Bell told the story that she learned of the shows cancellation while on the set of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, where her character in that film learns that her fictional show had been cancelled.

Everyone on the show was asked what it felt like getting back into their characters, and all of them seemed to indicate just how comfortable they were together.

Bell talked about how easy it is for her to memorize the dialogue that Rob Thomas writes. Her comfort with Thomas made it so easy to jump back into the character.

Thomas said that he went back and watched the original series in preparation of writing the new script. Also, he found himself crying when he got to the first scene of Veronica and Logan kissing.

Ryan Hansen revealed he was wearing a “Team Dick” shirt, in response to Jason Dorhing’s “Team Piz” shirt and Chris Lowell’s “Team Logan” shirt.

Thomas revealed that they have been shooting for about twenty days and have two days left to go. He described the film as being an ambitious low budget film, and said that they couldn’t have made the movie if the cast wasn’t so familiar with each other.

When asked what they would do with an extra million dollars, Thomas said they would just take more time. Also they would add vampires or aliens. Thomas gave credit to the cast for making him want to come back and continue the story.

Dorhing promised plenty of surprises in the movie that are yet to be revealed.

Thomas said he wrote the movie so that you didn’t have to have seen the series in order to understand the movie. For that reason, he didn’t include a lot of the mythology of the show or make much mention of the original stories. He did promise plenty of Easter Eggs for long term fans of the show. He also said that he wants the movie to be a new start for the franchise.

Thomas also mentioned that they will be releasing a couple of novels that are set after the movie, and are adult mystery. He also wants to make more movies, make a bunch of money, and become another Bond franchise.

Panel Photos

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