'Veronica Mars' Movie Plot Details; Ending Leaves Opening for Sequels [Updated]

[UPDATE: We've included the answers from Rob Thomas' Twitter Q&A below.]

After shocking the entire world - fans most of all - by launching a Kickstarter to help fund a Veronica Mars movie, creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell were shocked themselves when it broke records and reached its $2 million goal in under ten hours.

Now that the movie is basically a foregone conclusion, Thomas and Bell have been making the rounds to talk about the Kickstarter and what we can expect when Veronica Mars: The Movie is released in 2014. In a recent interview, Thomas discussed in some detail the movie's plot and the possibility of sequels if the film is a success.

[WARNING: SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!]

In an interview with TV Line, Rob Thomas explained what Veronica Mars has been up to since the series finale:

"She transferred away from Hearst college after that freshman year and went up to Stanford and finished her undergraduate degree. And then she went to Columbia Law School. She’s certainly been back to Neptune from time to time to see her dad and Mac and Wallace, but she hasn’t worked a PI case since the last one we all saw in the final episode of season 3. She ruined her dad’s chance for re-election and she decided that that path had caused too much chaos in her life.

"And so she hasn’t worked a PI case in nine years. And when we meet her, she’s sort of like where Tom Cruise was in the beginning of The Firm. She’s between having graduated and taken the bar and she’s interviewing at various law firms in New York."

Fans probably know that - as a last-ditch effort to save the series - Rob Thomas filmed a test pilot for a season 4 that would've seen Veronica, post-college, in a special FBI unit wherein she would go undercover as a high school student and catch corrupt principals, teachers, students, etc. (basically, it was 21 Jump Street featuring Veronica Mars). Since season 4 never came to fruition, Thomas scrapped the idea altogether; this Veronica never joined the FBI. Of course, going to law school doesn't preclude her from becoming an FBI agent down the line (as that's what many FBI agents do prior to joining the FBI).

Will the movie be new audience-friendly? According to Thomas:

"I want to avoid getting deep into the 'Veronica Mars' mythology. We’re not going to get ghost visits from Lilly, as much as I joked about having Amanda Seyfried in it. We’re not going to get into Veronica’s backlog of cases. I want to make the movie accessible for people who haven’t watched 'Veronica Mars' before. All you need to know is that Veronica was a teenage private eye and she’s given it up. And there will be a moment early in the movie that will bring her back to Neptune and make her give being a private detective one more shot."

Is it possible Veronica Mars could die in the movie, or can we expect sequels (or even a new series?) if the Kickstarter movie is successful?

"Veronica will survive the movie. I can’t promise anyone else does though. But there will be an opportunity for Veronica do to her thing again. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I didn’t think [about doing more movies or a new Netflix series]. I am hopeful [the movie] is the birth of [much more] 'Veronica Mars.' "

I think I speak for Veronica Mars fans everywhere when I say that a Veronica Mars miniseries might even be preferable to future sequels. But maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves - the first (and perhaps only) movie doesn't even begin shooting until this summer.

Other Veronica Mars movie news from around the Internet:

As previously reported, the Veronica Mars movie will be set primarily during her ten-year high school reunion. It was either that or just have characters from Veronica's high school days randomly pop up and say things like, "I just happened to be in the neighborhood!"
At the beginning of the movie, Veronica will be in a relationship with someone. We may or may not be familiar with that someone, but don't expect him to be Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), who's dating a pop star.
The murder mystery of the film involves Echolls' aforementioned pop star girlfriend's death, for which Logan will be (falsely?) implicated. Fans of the series will recall that Logan Echolls was falsely accused of terrible crimes (homicide among them) just about every other week.
Much like in the series, Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni), Veronica's father, will have a major role in the movie.
Backup, Veronica's trusty, adorable, and protective pit bull, won't be returning for the movie because he likely would've passed away in the ten years since the events of season 3. (No, I'm not crying, I just - my girlfriend was cutting onions earlier, I swear.)
Rob Thomas and company are "shooting for" a PG-13 rating.
Percy Daggs III - the actor who played Veronica's best friend, Wallace Fennell - has confirmed to TMZ that he's "100% down" to reprise his role.
Francis Capra (the little kid from Kazam) held a Reddit AMA where he made it pretty clear that he would be returning to portray Eli "Weevil" Navarro.
Rob Thomas told E! Online that Max Greenfield - the breakout star of FOX's New Girl and the actor who played Deputy Leo in Veronica Mars - will also be reprising his role, though Leo will now be a San Diego police detective.
Krysten Ritter (star of the recently canceled Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23) tweeted that she hopes the movie will have room for her character - Gia Goodman - from season 2.
Lastly, Thomas told E! that he would do "anything" to make a Veronica Mars series happen on Netflix. If both Arrested Development season 4 and the VMars movie turn out to be incredibly successful ventures, I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what happens.

If you're dying for more Veronica Mars movie news, make sure to check out the Live Twitter Q&A tomorrow with Rob Thomas:

MarsBars- don’t forget Live Twitter Chat with me & @robthomastomorrow @ 11AM PT. Use hashtag #veronicamarsmovie to ask questions.— Kristen Bell(@IMKristenBell) March 21, 2013

Presumably, even more will be revealed about the forthcoming film. If you're lucky, you might even get your question answered.

UPDATE: Check out the answers from the Twitter Q&A:

Rob Thomas is planning on Vinnie - played by Ken Marino (Role Models) - "running amok" in the film. In the series finale, Vinnie (who was basically Keith Mars' private detective competitor) was all but guaranteed to be elected sheriff of Neptune.
The movie is outlined and the first 40 pages of the script have been written.
The chances of Duncan's (Teddy Dunn) daughter showing up in the film are nonexistent; however, there's a possibility Duncan, who was a fugitive by the end of season 2, will show up.
The song 'We Used to Be Friends,' which was the TV show's theme song, will "definitely" be used in the movie in some "cool" way.
Veronica and Wallace will still be very close.
There will be "a couple great roles" for new actors, but the plan is for "many, many" characters from the series to return.
There won't be any flashbacks to the original series.
Rob Thomas wants Krysten Ritter to appear in "more than" just a cameo.
There will be a Dax Shepard (Parenthood) cameo (Dax is Kristen's fiancé).
The Neptune High School reunion will be a "middle of movie set piece."
Thomas wants Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) - who had a small recurring role in the first season - to return.

As it stands now, the Veronica Mars Kickstarter is at $3,736,000. It's slowed considerably in the past few days, so I wouldn't expect it to make it past $5 million (and that might be a generous estimate) by April 12th unless some pretty desirable/pricey reward tiers get added soon.

What do you think of the Veronica Mars movie plot details, Screen Ranters? And if it's successful, would you prefer additional movies or an all-new series on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.

The Veronica Mars movie will likely start shooting this summer with a release date in early 2014.

Follow me on Twitter @benandrewmoore.

Sources: TV Line , TMZ, Reddit, E! Online, & The Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter