While I don’t necessarily believe that the Veronica Mars movie had to happen, since the TV series did a good job at not leaving too many plot strands dangling all over the place, I absolutely cannot wait for it to come out so that I can watch it a thousand times in between episode marathon sessions. I love Veronica Mars! I love Veronica Mars!
One of the main reasons I anticipate the film so highly is because of the characters that we as an audience grew to love - even when they were acting like shitheads (which was actually quite often). It will be wonderful to revisit the lives of this gang and see where their lives have taken them. Something this movie definitely does not need, however, is an onslaught of cameos from celebrities. But this will apparently happen, as Zap2It reports their sources say James Franco has been scripted into the film to play himself (but probably not the “himself” he played in this summer’s This is the End.)
Franco and a small list of other celebrities will feature into the film as victims of hidden camera scams. In the movie, celebrity houses are being broken into and cameras are set up to record private moments - with the tapes then being sold online. Franco’s reps didn’t respond to Zap2It’s requests for comment, so I guess this should still be treated as a rumor for now. That said, I kind of assume Franco will end up appearing in over 50% of all features that come out in the next few years, so a self-referencing cameo in Veronica Mars sounds completely legitimate.
Franco himself isn’t the source of my ire here - it's more that I’m sick of movies dumping celebrity cameos into their narratives for no other reason than to drum up publicity. I’m not saying that’s the case with Veronica Mars, but it being a possible exception to that rule doesn’t make the cameos any more palatable. If anything, the film’s dramatic angle might at least give Franco and others a chance to be genuine, rather than playing self-deprecating versions of themselves.
Unless the next cameo is slated to be Rob Schneider or will.I.am, this is probably the only time I’m going to complain about anything Veronica Mars related this year. I’m exceedingly pumped that most of the supporting cast from the show has already signed on, including Francis Capra, Ryan Hansen, Jason Dohring, Max Greenfield, Tina Majorino, Chris Lowell, Krysten Ritter, Enrico Colantoni, Percy Daggs III and Ken Marino. And you can’t tell me adding the subtle comedic genius Martin Starr to this thing is going to be a bust.
Veronica Mars is set to be released sometime in 2014, which is probably when you’ll also be able to see Franco’s next directorial effort, William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. His first Faulkner adaptation, As I Lay Dying, will get a limited release this September.
