Above is the full version of “Sync,” a project by Corridor Digital of YouTube fame, hosted by Bammo.

The video, clocking in at 1 hour, 45 minutes, is a great independent collaboration of Web episodes that show a little can go a long way. The story can be a bit cliched, and the violence over-the-top, but if you like science-fiction work, you’ll love this. You may get a “Source Code” kind of vibe.

Description:
SYNC is a story about the world’s first computerized human, who is a covert agent struggling to balance what’s left of his humanity with his newly threatened immortality.

Directors: Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer
Charlie Cooper: Tanner Thomason
Reese Wilson: Lauren Plaxco
Eleanor Delaney: Cooper Harris
Writer: Ira Parker
Executive Producer: Sarah Penna
Executive Producer: Steve Raymond
Executive Producer: Mike Rotman
Line Producer: AJ Tesler
Unit Production Manager: Jake Watson
1st Assistant Director: Cory Johnson
Assistant Director: Nicholas Veneroso
Lead FX artist: Clinton Jones
Editing: Kevin Lipnos/The Sweatshop
Sound: Dan Pugsley
Music: Kristopher Fisher

Review coming soon!

Above, Martin Scorsese at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in West Hollywood, Calif. (Photo credit: AP photo by Evan Agostini, file)

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Martin Scorsese is developing a TV series based on his 2002 film “Gangs of New York.”

The director is partnering with Miramax, which released the Oscar-nominated film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis. The planned show doesn’t yet have a TV network.

The series expands on the brutal, 19th-century New York gang world of the film. Miramax says the series will chronicle the birth of organized crime in not just New York but also in cities such as Chicago and New Orleans.

In a statement Thursday, Scorsese says the era was too rich to fully explore in a two-hour film. He says the series “allows us the time and creative freedom to bring this colorful world, and all the implications it had and still does on our society, to life.”

Above, Channing Tatum, left, and Dwayne Johnson are shown in a scene from “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.”(Photo credit: AP photo by Paramount Pictures, Jaimie Trueblood, file)

By SANDY COHEN
AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES — When your film franchise has gotten tired — the Fast aren’t quite as Furious, the Mummy needs a reason to Return — Dwayne Johnson is the guy to call.

The 40-year-old actor has become a savior of stale film series, injecting new life into “Fast Five,” ”The Mummy Returns,” ”Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” and now “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.” The former professional wrestler rocks established franchises by joining them on the second or subsequent installment and boosting the property’s box office.

“Fast & Furious 6″ and “Journey 3″ are on the way, and Johnson’s “Mummy” character got his own spinoff film, “The Scorpion King.”

“We call him franchise Viagra,” said “Retaliation” director Jon M. Chu. “He comes in and he elevates everything, not just physically, but energy-wise… He was the only one in our minds that could reinvent G.I. Joe and carry the franchise forward.”

In “Retaliation,” Johnson takes over for Channing Tatum, the star of 2009′s “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.” Tatum plays a smaller role in the sequel as Johnson introduces moviegoers to Roadblock, a character from the G.I. Joe universe who’s built like a tank but always served second in command.

“He was the glue who held all the G.I. Joes together, but he was happily in the shadows,” Johnson said. “To bring him to life and then try to help elevate the franchise with that character is pretty cool.”

Johnson grew up playing with G.I. Joe action figures, so he was especially excited to be a part of Joe’s second cinematic outing.

“It would be like if George Lucas called me and said, ‘Hey, want to be in Star Wars?” the actor said.

In fact, he’s open to joining any film franchise he might be able to help.

“If I can create a character that audiences will really like and love going on a journey with — whether it’s ‘Fast Five’ or ‘G.I. Joe’ or even ‘Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,’ or everything else we have coming up — then I jump at that opportunity,” Johnson said, noting the creative challenge. “How do you elevate something that’s already successful? What do you do? How do you make it different? How do you make it fun? How do you make it cool?”

The Associated Press asked Johnson what role he might play in some of the top-grossing movie franchises of all time, including a few that may seem finished. The Rock, tongue firmly in cheek, is willing to revive them.

— STAR WARS: “That could happen. I only say that because of my love for the mythology of ‘Star Wars.’ … Boba Fett could work. But it can’t be the Boba Fett as we know. We can’t hide my magic (gestures to his face). This is magic, my friend (laughs). There’s got to be a cross between a Sith and a Jedi. What is that? Don’t know what that is yet. We’ve got to create it.”

— JAMES BOND: “I love that franchise. Daniel Craig has been great. You know my grandfather was a baddie in ‘You Only Live Twice’ with Sean Connery. They had this awesome fight scene. So he kind of opened up the doors in my mind a little bit at least. So yeah, absolutely — me chasing down Daniel Craig. But here’s the thing. Here’s my idea. Chase down Daniel Craig and then become the new Bond. That’s what we do … That’s never going to happen, OK, but go ahead.”

— BATMAN: “Um. Let’s take a crack at it. I love that. ‘Batman.’ Do I say that? ‘I’m Batman.’”

— SHREK: “With ‘Shrek’ we create a five-legged Brahma bull with three horns.. He’s neutral. And sometimes he stutters.”

— TWILIGHT: “We would introduce the biggest, baddest, most manliest vampire the world has ever seen or will ever see. Go to Kristen Stewart, grab her by the back of the head, pull her in closely. Here comes Pattinson. Pie-face him out of the way. Look at her before I kiss her: ‘We’re doing away with boyhood things.’ Push him out of the way. Give her the kiss. Change her life. Then I’d bite her; rip her face off (laughs).”

— PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: “We have Johnny Depp on one side, that pirate, then we have myself on another side. I’m a pirate — don’t believe in drinking, don’t believe in cussing. A clean pirate who happens to be boring. Yes, yes, that’s it. How exciting is that? You’re lining up. Everyone’s lining up to see it.”

— INDIANA JONES: “I would be a professor at the University of Miami of course, naturally … who stumbles upon something that is considered the fountain of youth. Give it to the real Indy. We go back in time. He becomes Indy from ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ Then we both set off.”

Aboev, Johnny Depp, left, as Tonto, a spirit warrior on a personal quest, who joins forces in a fight for justice with Armie Hammer, as John Reid, a lawman who has become a masked avenger, The Lone Ranger, from the movie, “The Lone Ranger.” The film opens nationwide on July 3, 2013. (Photo credit: AP photo by Disney/Bruckheimer Films, Peter Mountain)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Johnny Depp will answer fans’ questions about “The Lone Ranger” in a live online session.

Disney announced Thursday that Depp and co-star Armie Hammer will discuss the anticipated adventure film on April 17 after showing 20 minutes of exclusive footage to about 400 fans at a Las Vegas theater.

Director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer also will participate in the session, which is to stream live on Yahoo Movies and Livestream.

Fans outside of Las Vegas can submit questions for “The Lone Ranger” team through Twitter and watch the film’s trailer online. The extended footage, though, is just for those in Las Vegas.

The promotion coincides with the annual CinemaCon convention, where Disney is expected to offer a similar presentation for theater owners. “The Lone Ranger” releases July 3.

Aboev, Jerry Lewis, left, and Robert De Niro in a scene from the movie “The King of Comedy.” The Tribeca Film Festival will close with a 30th anniversary restoration of Martin Scorsese’’s ““The King of Comedy.” (Photo credit: AP photo by 20th Century Fox)

NEW YORK (AP) — The Tribeca Film Festival will close with a 30th anniversary restoration of Martin Scorsese’s “The King of Comedy.”

This year’s festival will bow out on April 27 with a classic from one of its founders: Robert De Niro. In the 1983 dark comedy, he stars as the aspiring comedian Rupert Pupkin, whose obsessive celebrity hounding leads to kidnapping.

Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal said it had always been a goal of Scorsese’s to use the festival, with which he’s closely associated, to showcase restored and rediscovered films.

The 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival opens April 17.

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Online:

Tribeca Film Festival website

Above, from left, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill in a scene from the film “Star Wars.” (Photo credit: AP photo by 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation)

By RYAN PEARSON
AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES — Harrison Ford isn’t ready — “yet” — to talk about his reported part in Disney’s planned “Star Wars” sequel, but he praises its director, J.J. Abrams.

“I think he’s fantastic,” Ford said in a recent interview. “I did his first movie, ‘Regarding Henry,’ with Mike Nichols. A wonderful talent. Extraordinary guy.”

The 70-year-old actor — who came to fame playing Han Solo in the “Star Wars” trilogy — is shrugging off questions about that character while promoting his role as Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey in the upcoming Jackie Robinson film “42.”

Asked how he feels generally that the “Star Wars” sequel and Disney spinoffs are in the works, Ford responded: “I don’t feel anything at the moment yet.”

In an article published earlier this month, “Star Wars” creator George Lucas told Bloomberg Businessweek that Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher had been in negotiations to return to the franchise even before Lucasfilm was sold to Disney last fall.

Was Ford surprised by that announcement? He makes the universal zipping-my-lips sign. Asked what it will take to get him to commit to play Han Solo again, Ford said, “Um, I don’t even want to discuss that. It’s great. Ain’t it great?”

It’s been over two decades since Abrams wrote the “Regarding Henry” screenplay. Have the two chatted recently?

“About what?” Ford asked, smirking and taking a slow sip from a cup.

By SANDY COHEN
AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES — G. I. Joe’s second big-screen mission was just about to begin last year when Paramount suddenly called the troops back to base, delaying the release of “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” by nine months to convert it to 3-D. The move came just weeks after another movie based on a Hasbro toy, “Battleship,” was torpedoed at the box office.

Fans will soon find out if it was worth the wait: “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” opens Thursday.

Though director Jon M. Chu always wanted to make the film in 3-D, learning of the delay a month before the film was set to open was initially crushing.

“It’s kind of like running a marathon and you’re at the last leg and you’re exhausted and you’re right at the finish line … and then someone trips you and says, ‘Oh, that’s not the line. That was just an illusion. It’s actually double the time,’” he said in a recent interview. “Literally your body aches.”

It’s not unusual for movie debut dates to bounce around a bit before being buttoned down, as production schedules and competing releases are assessed. But lengthy, last-minute delays are rare. The studio had even begun some “G.I. Joe” advertising efforts when it announced the 3-D delay last May.

Above, Channing Tatum, left, as Duke and Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock in a scene from the film, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” from Paramount Pictures, MGM and Skydance Productions. (Photo credit: AP photo by Paramount Pictures, Jaimie Trueblood)

At the time, some speculated it wasn’t just about adding dimension, but also adding more of rising-star Channing Tatum, who was featured in 2009′s “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra” but didn’t clock much screen time in the sequel.

Yet the filmmakers insist they didn’t shoot any new footage for “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” saving the stars from shuffling their schedules for more than a couple weeks of promotional appearances. Instead, Chu and his team spent their time solely on converting the film to 3-D, and they hope fans will be so dazzled by the effects that they’ll forgive the nine-month wait.

“We had to get in frame by frame and turn it into 3-D, which was a long, laborious task,” Chu said, “but ultimately I think it really helps our movie.”

But will it be enough to bring fans into theaters?

“Unfortunately, movies somehow get a stigma by moving (dates),” said producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. “There’s also some people who go, ‘Oh, was that movie not good enough? Is that why you guys pushed it?’ So you’ve got to work your way through some of that as well.”

The producer had also hoped to make the film in 3-D originally, “but we didn’t have time to do it properly,” he said.

Chu had two 3-D movies to his credit (“Step Up 3D” and the 2011 documentary “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never”), and expected to approach the G.I. Joe sequel three-dimensionally, too. Even though it was shot in 2-D, the director said he brought a 3-D sensibility to filming.

“Depth is always part of my language now, only because I had to do it for the last four years. So every scene, even though it wasn’t in 3-D, depth was a part of the frame,” he said. “Of course, if I knew it was going to be 3-D, would I have done a couple things differently? For sure. But we wouldn’t have done (the conversion) if we didn’t look at the movie and think we have enough fun things in it to take advantage of 3-D.”

Among the dimensionalized fun? Jets that soar past moviegoers’ heads, and a high-flying fight among ninjas in the Himalayas.

Fans online seem excited about “Retaliation,” which stars Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis, along with Tatum and others. The movie site Fandango.com reports positive Twitter buzz for the film, which is the only new action offering on a weekend when many students are on spring break.

Also opening are “Tyler Perry’s Temptation,” the romance-adventure “The Host” and the crime drama “The Place Beyond the Pines.”

Waiting for a spring debut may pay off for G.I. Joe if the 3-D improves the film, said Dave Karger, chief correspondent for Fandango.

“The movie will have a harder time making summer money in late March,” he said, “but it stands a better chance to be well-received now if it’s a more of a crowd-pleasing film because of the 3-D.”

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Online:

Offical movie website

‘Battleship’ needs no help sinking itself

In case you were under any suggestion otherwise, Michael Bay did not direct “Battleship.” You would never know that. And though they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, “Battleship” a hectic, poorly written, special effect-laden bonanza on par with “Skyline” or “Battle: Los Angeles” is a poor attempt at cashing in on others’ success. (And yes, “Battleship” will go on to make millions anyways.)

Above, Rihanna is shown in a scene from “Battleship.” (Photo credit: Universal Pictures)

Loosely based on the Hasbro game first played on paper, than with plastic boards and then on video screens, “Battleship” is a noisy, rambling creature that more lurches to its highly unbelievable denouement even for the science-fiction genre than naturally flows, despite the abundance of water. It takes yet another Hasbro creation (think “Transformers”) and decides to remove any subtext. Not to say there was a lot of subtext when it came to the board game, but some intelligence was required. Not so much with the theatrical rendition.

Directed by Peter Berg, the uninspired “Battleship” unassumingly begins with naval war games being conducted by the United States Navy, and its allies, off the coast of Hawaii. It doesn’t long, however, before the drills are disrupted by visitors from another planet. (Their visit, not surprisingly, was spurred by humans sending signals into deep space to seek out alien life. Oops.)

But despite, or maybe because of, the aliens’ far superior technology and weaponry, a band of makeshift heroes unite, including Taylor Kitsch and Liam Neeson, working together to overcome their foes. One of movie’s few clever moments involves a scene where the ship’s remaining crew play a game of “Where’s the alien ship going next?” It’s strikingly similar to the game itself, and the method used to simulate the guessing is actually ingenious.

Sadly, too few of these moments can be found, and instead we’re bombarded with patronizing Greatest Generation and injured veterans shout-outs. When that’s not enough to make you giggle inappropriately, there’s even a scene where the singer Rihanna, playing a petty office, rails against the machine with a rather underwhelming turret gun. She’s not bad in the bland role, but seeing her try to attack a deadly enemy ship with what amounts to a BB gun is hilarious in all the wrong ways.

But the type of audience naturally attracted to the likes of “Battleship” won’t care much. The obscene explosions and stunning visual effects, of which there are many, are eye candy. The naval battles make you want to board the nearest Navy destroyer. Still, they aren’t sweet enough to save “Battleship” from sinking in mediocrity.

Two battling stars out of five.

Above, from left, Belt the sloth, voiced by Chris Sanders, Guy, voiced by Ryan Reynolds, Eep, voiced by Emma Stone, Ugga, voiced by Catherine Keener, holding Sandy, voiced by Randy Thom, Thunk, voiced by Clark Duke, Gran, voiced by Cloris Leachman, in a scene from “The Croods.” (Photo credit: AP photo by DreamWorks Animation)

By CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP Movie Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The caveman comedy “The Croods” left an indelible mark on the wall, opening at No. 1 with $44.7 million, according to Sunday studio estimates.

The 3-D adventure from DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox features a voice cast including Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone and Catherine Keener. They play a prehistoric family encountering danger and strange new creatures when they’re forced to find a new cave.

Opening strongly in second place with $30.5 million was “Olympus Has Fallen,” an action thriller from “Training Day” director Antoine Fuqua in which North Korean terrorists take over the White House. Gerard Butler, as a secret service agent, leads an all-star cast that includes Aaron Eckhart as the president, Morgan Freeman and Angela Bassett.

“The Croods” has now made $108 million worldwide, also opening this weekend in Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain. In the United States, it’s the only game in town as far as animated films for the whole family, and it will continue to be so as kids head out of school for spring break over the next couple of weeks.

“It’s a terrific crowd-pleaser, it got an A CinemaScore and an A-plus with audiences under 18, which leads me to believe a lot of kids loved the movie,” said Anne Globe, chief marketing officer for DreamWorks Animation.

Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox, said “The Croods” had a stronger opening than the $40 million the studio had projected.

“To come in at the $45 million mark, ahead of ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ which was another terrific movie from DreamWorks Animation, is a great start to the spring holiday,” Aronson said.

“Olympus Has Fallen” also opened higher than expectations — much higher — given that FilmDistrict figured it would end up somewhere in the under-$20 million range, said president of distribution Jim Orr. This is by far the biggest debut for the independent distributor, which was just founded in September 2010; the previous best was the $14.3 million the “Red Dawn” remake made over last year’s Thanksgiving weekend.

“Millennium Films and Antoine Fuqua delivered a brilliant, action-packed, serious thriller with an all-star cast led by Gerard Butler, and the word of mouth seems to be terrific,” said Orr. “It not only exceeded all our pre-weekend estimates, as the weekend has gone on, it’s gotten better. This is the first action thriller in a while that’s gotten an A-minus CinemaScore, so it’s obvious that people are talking about it and enjoying it.”

This one-two punch of “Croods” and “Olympus” — two movies that appealed to two very different audiences — was much-needed at the box office, which is down 13 percent from the same period last year, said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com.

“I was really surprised by ‘Olympus.’ This year, the R-rated action films have all fallen flat,” Dergarabedian said, including “The Last Stand” and “Parker.” ”The marketing was good. Gerard Butler — he’s the real deal, he looks the part and everything. And the theme of the movie, the fact that the president is under siege — it worked on ‘Air Force One.’ There’s something about that theme that works for audiences.”

But this weekend’s haul is down 34 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when the juggernaut of “The Hunger Games” debuted. It made a whopping $152.5 million in its opening, which is more than all the films in theaters combined will have made this weekend.

Among the other new films this weekend, the Tina Fey-Paul Rudd college comedy “Admission” from Focus Features opened in fifth place with just $6.4 million. But the buzzed-about “Spring Breakers” from A24 Films, featuring Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens as hard-partying college girls, did well in its first nationwide expansion. It made $5 million on 1,104 screens for a total of $5.4 million over the past two weeks.

Nothing really huge is on the horizon to give the box office a boost until “Iron Man 3″ kicks off the summer movie season on May 3, Dergarabedian said. But the strong showing for “Olympus Has Fallen” could bode well for the sequel “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” next weekend.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Croods,” $44.7 million ($63.3 million international).

2. “Olympus Has Fallen,” $30.5 million ($2.2 million international).

3. “Oz the Great and Powerful,” $22 million ($21.7 million international).

4. “The Call,” $8.7 million.

5. “Admission,” $6.4 million.

6. “Spring Breakers,” $5 million ($1.1 million international).

7. “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” $4.3 million.

8. “Jack the Giant Slayer,” $3 million ($19.3 million international).

9. “Identity Thief,” $2.5 million ($4.7 million).

10. “Snitch,” $1.9 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. “The Croods,” $63.3 million.

2. “Oz the Great and Powerful,” $21.7 million.

3. “Jack the Giant Slayer,” $19.3 million.

4. “A Good Day to Die Hard,” $10.5 million.

5. “Resident Evil: Retribution,” $5.1 million.

6. “Identity Thief,” $4.7 million.

7. “Very Ordinary Couple,” $4.3 million.

8. “Wreck-It Ralph,” $4.1 million.

9. (tie) “Warm Bodies,” $3.5 million.

10. (tie) “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters,” $3.5 million.

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Online:

www.hollywood.com

www.rentrak.com

This 2004 file photo shows actress Kristen Bell in a scene from the teen detective series “Veronica Mars.” Creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a movie of his cult TV show, which was canceled after three seasons in 2007. It met its stated goal of raising $2 million in less than 11 hours, meaning it would be greenlit to begin shooting this summer. (Photo credit: AP photo by UPN, Scott Garfield)

By JAKE COYLE
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — After years of hope, stalled efforts and studio frustration, “Veronica Mars” creator Rob Thomas watched a long-held dream come to fruition in a sudden digital rush.

“There were a few minutes of nothing happening,” he says. “Then in an hour, watching that ticker go was mesmerizing. I had an attention span of, like, four seconds because everything on my computer screen I wanted to look at at the same time. The Twitter feed was going crazy, the emails were going crazy and then watching that Kickstarter total go up.”

Thomas last week launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a movie of his cult TV show, which was canceled after three seasons in 2007. It met its stated goal of raising $2 million in less than 11 hours, meaning it would be greenlit to begin shooting this summer. It’s surpassed $3.7 million with more than two weeks still to go.

This 2007 publicity photo supplied by the CW shows Kristen Bell, who plays the title role in “Veronica Mars” on The CW Network. “Veronica Mars” creator Rob Thomas and stars of the TV show that aired from 2004-07 have launched an online fundraising campaign for a big-screen version. (Photo credit: AP photo by CW, Michael Desmond, file)

The resounding, immediate success of the crowd-funding campaign sent shockwaves through the movie business. Films had found much-needed financial support on Kickstarter before, but “Veronica Mars” is different. It’s a studio project, owned by Warner Bros., which produced the show.

The money given by the fervent fans of “Veronica Mars,” which starred Kristen Bell as a teenage private eye, will go not to a filmmaker operating on his own, but one with the distribution and marketing muscle of a very large corporation — just one that hadn’t previously been convinced to bankroll a “Veronica Mars” film.

Were donating fans spurring a goliath to action, or its unwitting pawns?

The wide majority of “Veronica Mars” fans couldn’t care less. They will get the movie they craved, as well as the proud feeling of having played an essential role in the show’s resurrection. Maryland fan Matt Clipp typified the eager contributors, writing: “I am MORE than happy to donate $100 to this project. This movie has been a dream of mine ever since the series ended back in 2007. … LET’S GET THIS THING MADE, ‘VERONICA MARS’ FANS!”

While the emotional side is surely the biggest motivation for most donors, they’re also paying for tangible goods. Rewards range from an emailed copy of the script ($10 contributions), all the way up to a speaking part in the film as a waiter who says, “Your check, sir,” (a single $10,000 donation). All money is refunded if for any reason the film doesn’t get made.

“Most of the people who are pledging are getting in at the $35 and $50 range where they’re getting a download of the movie, a T-shirt, a copy of the script at $35, and all of that plus the DVD and the making-of documentary at the $50 price point,” says Thomas. “So I don’t think anyone’s being taken advantage of. I feel like the rewards are worth it.”

Typically in film financing, any investor has the chance to earn his money back and potentially share in the profits. Slate claimed the “Veronica Mars” project sets a “terrible precedent.”

Joss Whedon, whose devoted fanboy following is similar, if larger, than Thomas’, said that he reacted in “unfettered joy” at the “Veronica Mars” Kickstarter campaign. But Whedon, who realizes he’ll now be hounded to follow suit with another movie of his canceled cult TV series “Firefly,” acknowledged some trepidation about the financial arrangement for fans.

“I understand that it feels not as pure, and that the presence of a studio makes it disingenuous somehow,” Whedon told BuzzFeed. “But people clearly understood what was happening and just wanted to see more of the thing they love. To give them that opportunity doesn’t feel wrong. If it was a truly wrong move, I don’t think it would have worked.”

In this July 17, 2006, file photo, Executive producer, Rob Thomas, left, answers questions about the coming season of “Veronica Mars” as actress Kristen Bell looks on during The CW’s Television Critics Association press conference in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo credit: AP photo by Lucas Jackson, file)

Thomas says he’s been in daily contact with Warner Bros., which approved the plan in advance. The studio hasn’t sought to flaunt its involvement. Executives for its digital wing, which is planning a limited theatrical release followed by video-on-demand early next year, declined to comment.

Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler, too, declined to comment when asked through a spokesman about whether corporate involvement compromises Kickstarter’s mission. Kickstarter takes a 5 percent fee from money raised for successful projects.

Since being founded in 2009, Kickstarter has raised more than $500 million for some 35,000 creative projects. The “Veronica Mars” film is far and away its most lucrative movie project.

Earlier this year, the documentary short film “Inocente” became the first Kickstarter-backed Oscar-winner, having raised about $52,000 on the platform. Kickstarter has drawn several big Hollywood names, including David Fincher (a producer of an animated project that raised more than $440,000) and Charlie Kaufman (whose short animated film “Anomalisa” brought in $406,000).

Some have derided Kickstarter’s growing influence (Gawker lamented its “online panhandling”), but few would argue it’s been a positive force for getting dozens of films made in an industry landscape that can be brutal for independent filmmakers.

Thomas admits some of the talk of the “revolutionary” impact of the “Veronica Mars” Kickstarter campaign has been “an overreach,” but he hopes it leads to more low-budget films finding their way in the world.

“I don’t know that I would bet that a Kickstarter model starts to work across the board and that everyone who wants to make a $3, 4, 5 million movie can expect to go to Kickstarter and get financed,” he said. “When there is a brand name product that people have responded to and want to see and there’s already a built in following for it, people can be very successful. I hope that in that respect we are pioneers and we see more of them.”

Many are already seeing new potential to capitalize on small but dedicated fan support. (On the CW, “Veronica Mars” averaged less than 2.5 million viewers.) Shawn Ryan, whose FX drama “Terriers” was canceled in 2010 after one season, tweeted that he was “very interested” in the “Veronica Mars” Kickstarter campaign. “Could be a model for a ‘Terriers’ wrap up film,” he said.

Thomas also co-created another canceled show — the Starz cult comedy “Party Down” — that may be reborn as a film. He’s still hopeful that will happen, but says funding is already lining up more traditionally.

In the meantime, he’s hoping the Kickstarter contributions keep coming. More money means being able to shoot in Southern California (where the show was set) and gradual boosts in production value. The screenplay, of which he has 37 pages written, features a 10-year high school reunion for Mars’ Neptune High — a gathering that will include inevitable strife.

“In the barebones version, angry words would have been exchanged,” says Thomas. “We’re now starting to look comfortable enough to say there will be a brawl.”

It already promises to be a different kind of filmmaking experience. He’ll have 100-plus Kickstarter contributors to use as extras. A documentary on the making of the movie has begun tracking Thomas with cameras. And the production schedule has been built to include two days purely for Thomas, Bell and others to sign the thousands of movie posters and other items they’ve promised their Kickstarter backers.

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Online:

‘Veronica Mars’ Kickstarter project