'Veronica Mars' movie gets a release date

On March 13, 2013, Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas asked fans of the acclaimed, gone-too-soon teen detective drama starring Kristen Bell to Kickstart a big screen revival. Fitting, then, that Marshmallow Nation will get to see what their $5.7 million paid for on the one year anniversary of the groundbreaking fundraising campaign: In an exclusive interview, Thomas tells EW that Warner Bros. will release the movie — simply titled Veronica Mars — on March 14, 2014. “Warner Bros. had this date circled for quite some time and hoped it would stay open,” Thomas tells EW. “Luckily, no other teen detective movie decided to open in the middle of March.”

The original distribution plan called for Veronica Mars to get a limited engagement run in just a few cities before becoming more widely available via video on demand and other digital platforms. But Thomas reports that Warner Bros. will now give the film a wider, nationwide release (number of screens still TBD) and let the marketplace decide how long it should stay in theaters. “We’re not going to dribble it out there,” says Thomas, who shot the movie in 23 days this past summer. He is currently finishing the special effects and putting together a soundtrack. Thomas also reports that a recent test audience screening went very well. “There are smart ways to do a movie of this size — and we chose none of them,” he says with a laugh. “We are a low budget movie with big set pieces and 60 speaking roles. A murder mystery in a house would have been more cost effective. But I think we have managed to pull it off.”

In the movie, Veronica returns to her hometown of Neptune, California, after 10 years away to aid former flame Logan (Jason Dohring), who has been accused of killing his pop star girlfriend. The original cast is back, including Enrico Colantoni as Veronica’s father and Tina Majorino and Percy Daggs III as Veronica’s best friends Mac and Wallace. Fans will see many other of their favorite characters, too, because after all: “10 years away” = 10 year high school reunion. See a sneak peek of the big event — movie and reunion — below: