It looks like a Veronica Mars movie will be coming to a theaters near you in 2014.  After a record-breaking month of Kickstarter donations, the feature adaptation of Rob Thomas’ (Party Down) beloved cult TV series has the funding to go into production.  The original goal of $2 million was surpassed in just the first day, but Thomas himself had a personal hope that they would reach $5 million by the end of the month.  While not everyone was fully behind the idea of using Kickstarter to fund the film, it is undeniable that this project shows the power of the fans and viewers.  If there is a dedicated following behind a TV show or film, they would be willing to move mountains and open up their wallets to see unfinished stories get that last chapter.

The Veronica Mars movie has commitments from stars Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring, but hopefully we can also see other cast members such as Enrico Colantoni, Percy Daggs III, Francis Capra, Ryan Hansen, and Tina Majorino in the mix.  Hit the jump for more on the project. 

The first trailer has been released for director Josh Boone’s comedy/drama Stuck in Love.  Formerly titled Writers, the film stars Greg Kinnear as a famous novelist obsessed with his ex-wife (Jennifer Connelly) even though he’s sleeping with his friend Tricia (Kristen Belly), who’s trying to help him get over his ex.  The story also follows Kinnear’s daughter (Lily Collins), who is being pursued by a fellow writing student (Logan Lerman) despite her promiscuity.  It’s tough to hone in on which story is the primary one in this trailer, but there’s a strong Crazy, Stupid, Love. vibe and the impressive ensemble cast is certainly promising.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer and to check out the poster.  The film also stars Nat Wolff and Spencer Breslin.  Stuck in Love opens on June 14th.

I’ve patiently waited for the opportunity to include Veronica Mars in the Top 5. As one of my favorite pop culture artifacts, I’m thrilled that this past week has finally afforded me the chance. That said, I’ll reserve any and all debate regarding the impact and merit of its now famed Kickstarter campaign for after the jump. For now, I’ll just say that, as much as I loved the show, I didn’t feel shortchanged by its somewhat abrupt finale. Moreover, I never felt like I needed a movie to bring some sort of closure to that world and its characters. Don’t get me wrong, by series end I wanted more VM in my life. But maybe that’s a good thing. Looking back I’d much prefer a series leave me wanting more than continually ask me back every week when it can barely muster even a shadow of its former self (cough…The Office…cough).

In addition to more Mars talk, this week’s collection also includes our G.I. Joe: Retaliation set visit, the first red-band trailer for Kick-Ass 2, Jurassic Park 4 naming its director, and all of our SXSW 2013 coverage to date. Keep reading for a brief recap and link to each.

The story around Veronica Mars series creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell’s Kickstarter campaign continues to evolve.  Yesterday morning we reported that the duo had launched the fundraising effort to raise $2 million in order for Warner Bros., the rights-holding studio, to give the okay on a feature version of the sleuth series.  They raised the funds in 10 hours and continue to bring in more pledges even now.  Though the campaign reached its goal, it wasn’t clear whether or now Warner Bros. had greenlit the project or just how they would be involved if and when they did.  Hit the jump to see the latest on the Veronica Mars movie.

As we reported just a few hours ago, Veronica Mars series creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their long-gestating film treatment with a goal of $2 million.  That goal has been reached in a mere ten hours, while it also set a Kickstarter record by drawing in $1 million worth of pledges in less than four-and-a-half hours.

As for Veronica Mars itself, the UPN series aired for three seasons becoming a cult and critical favorite.  The heavily noir-influenced plot followed the cases of a high school/college student moonlighting as a private investigator.  Now it looks as if there’s hope for the feature film going forward…but at what cost?  Hit the jump for more.

The fate of the long-promised Veronica Mars movie is now being placed wholly into the hands of the show’s fans.  In rather exciting move, series creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell have launched a Kickstarter to fund the film with a goal of $2 million.  The UPN series lasted only three seasons on the air before cancellation, but the show was a cult and critical favorite.  The plot followed the exploits of a high school/college student moonlighting as a private investigator and carried a heavy noir influence.

Thomas and Bell have been adamant about their desire to make a Veronica Mars movie over the years, but studios have been unwilling to foot the production bill given that their handy dandy models predict the film will have a limited audience and therefore low profitability.  Now, in what could possibly be a game-changing move for the film industry, the very fans that have been clamoring for it to come to fruition will be funding the entire production.  Hit the jump for more.

New posters for Disney Animation Studios’ Frozen have been released, and they show off our first look at the protagonist, Anna (Kristen Bell) and her wicked sister Elsa (Idina Menzel).  You can see that the filmmakers have kept the evolution of the Disney female character with the large pupils, thin irises, high cheekbones, and thin chin.  We tend to ignore these similarities as long as the plot is good, and hopefully Disney will have another animated hit on their hands with their upcoming feature.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  The film also features the voice of Jonathan Groff and music by Robert Lopez (The Book of Mormon) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (In Transit).  Frozen opens in 3D on November 27th. [Update: Disney has informed us that these are fan-made posters created from some unapproved character art, so we've been asked to take them down.]

You can go home again, but you probably shouldn’t.  Sometimes, when backed into a corner, we have no choice to retreat in order to regroup, but there’s hardly anything rejuvenating about crawling under the covers in your old bedroom.  Liz A. Garcia‘s The Lifeguard indulges its childish main character’s wish fulfillment as a deranged kind of emotional growth where the protagonist can make hypocritical statements to a kid that doesn’t know any better.  The only real attempt at character development comes from a desperate dramatic ploy in the film’s final ten minutes that closes out this deluded coming-of-age tale.

There are so many big movie stars in Movie 43 that it’s borderline ridiculous, so a new featurette aims to clarify some things with a little game of “Six Degrees of Separation.”  You can check out 55 images from the movie here and see how Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Terrence Howard, Halle Berry, Jason Sudeikis, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Chloe Moretz, Josh Duhamel, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Richard Gere, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Kieran Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Jimmy Bennett, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Pratt, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi and Bobby Cannavale are all connected after the jump.  Movie 43 opens January 25, 2013. 

This collection of images from comedy anthology Movie 43 gives a good look at the actors involved in the movie…and there are a lot of them:  Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Terrence Howard, Halle Berry, Jason Sudeikis, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Chloe Moretz, Josh Duhamel, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Richard Gere, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Kieran Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Jimmy Bennett, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Pratt, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi and Bobby Cannavale.  Movie 43 opens January 25, 2013.  Hit the jump to check out all of the above in image form.

The comedy omnibus Movie 43 has something for everyone with its enormous, star-studded cast: Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Terrence Howard, Halle Berry, Jason Sudeikis, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Chloe Moretz, Josh Duhamel, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Richard Gere, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Kieran Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Jimmy Bennett, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Pratt, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi, Bobby Cannavale.

Movie 43 opens on January 25, 2013, so Relativity sent over an exclusive TV spot.  If you can handle jokes about homeschool incest and inappropriate uses for hot sauce, watch it after the jump.  And make sure to check out the red band trailer.

The Sundance Film Festival recently announced the first round of programming, and we have the first images from a few of the movies playing in the U.S. Dramatic Competition:

• Mother of George - Directed by Andrew Dosunmu, starring Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, and Bukky Ajayi.
• The Lifeguard - Written and directed by Liz W. Garcia, starring Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, and David Lambert.
• The Spectacular Now - Directed by James Ponsoldt, starring Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Kyle Chandler.
• Touchy Feely - Written and directed by Lynn Shelton, starring Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, and Josh Pais.

Hit the jump for the images and synopses.  The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17-27.

If you like your movie trailers short on plot, heavy on the ad-libbing and redder than a Romney state, then you’ll love this new red-band effort from Movie 43.  The Peter Farrelly ensemble comedy stars everyone you’ve ever heard of in Hollywood and even some you haven’t.  Movie 43 has released another red-band trailer previously, but the new one mostly focuses on a stream of improv from Jason Sudeikis who is admiring Kristen Bell’s crotch.

Starring Elizabeth Banks, Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Leslie Bibb, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler and everyone else, Movie 43 opens on January 25th, 2013.  Hit the jump to see the new red-band trailer.

The first red-band trailer from the R-rated ensemble comedy Movie 43 has gone online.  I ran out of room to list my thoughts because there’s so Goddamned-many people in this movie!

The films in the collection were directed by Brett Ratner, Elizabeth Banks, Mike Judge, Peter Farrelly, Bob Odenkirk, Steve Baker, Damon Escot, among others.  Here’s a crazy rundown of the cast:  Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Terrence Howard, Halle Berry, Jason Sudeikis, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Chloe Moretz, Josh Duhamel, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Richard Gere, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Kieran Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Jimmy Bennett, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Pratt, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi, and Bobby Cannavale.  Movie 43 opens January 25, 2013.

The romantic car chase comedy (yes, it really is!) Hit & Run, from writer/director/star Dax Shepard, tells the story of Charlie Bronson (Shepard), a nice guy with a questionable past who decides to leave the witness protection program to ensure that his fiancée, Annie Bean (played by real-life fiancée Kristen Bell), can accept a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Los Angeles. But, their road trip grows increasingly complicated when they are chased by the gangster friends (led by Bradley Cooper) that Charlie was trying to leave behind.

At the film’s press day, Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about how the movie came about, when they realized that it was actually a romantic car chase movie, translating their love for each other to the big screen, and how sincere the characters are no matter how outrageous the situations. Shepard also talked about his next directorial effort, Send Lawyers, Guns and Money, which he hopes to shoot next year, and what fans can expect from the upcoming season of his hit NBC drama series Parenthood, while Bell talked about what a dream come true it is to do the voice work and original songs for the Disney animated feature Frozen, as well as how excited she is to return to her Showtime comedy series House of Lies. Check out what they had to say after the jump.