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Might Pushing Daisies Get a Kickstarter-Funded Touch of Life?

DO WANT

The massive success of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign—it’s raised $3.57 million and counting—has caused the creators of some other dear departed shows to perk up their heads and consider a fan-funded revival. One of those? Bryan Fuller, who’s expressed interest in doing a Pushing Daisies movie.

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To quote the great Olive Snook: Jiminy krispies!

Rob Thomas, the man behind Veronica Mars‘s Kickstarter campaign, noted in an interview with HitFix that:

I did get an email from Bryan Fuller earlier today saying, ‘Hey, can you jump on the phone with me at some point? I know you’re busy, but I would love to talk to you about how this thing works.’ And I know it was specifically for Pushing Daisies.

Thomas went on to say that Veronica Mars producer Warner Bros., which also produced Pushing Daisies, is treating Veronica Mars as a “guinea pig—in the best way. They want to see if this model works, and they made the calculated decision… that we were a good test case for this. If it works, it works, and they could start doing more of these.”

Sounds promising. But what does Fuller have to say? Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“When I saw [the campaign] online, I said to my agent immediately, ‘Can we do this with Pushing Daisies or Wonderfalls?… And he said, ‘Pushing Daisies is going to take a lot more than $2 million to make into a movie…’

You can make a $2 million or $4 million Veronica Mars movie. For something like Pushing Daisies, which is more elaborate visually and also would require extensive prosthetics and those sorts of complicating production elements, it’s a little more daunting.”

How much more daunting? Fuller estimates that a movie version would cost $10 million. Worth noting, though, is that not all of that would necessarily have to be raised through Kickstarter. Many independent movies that turn to crowdfunding only try and raise part of their budget there. They can then turn around and show that amount to individual investors, a sort of tangible “Hey, look how many people want to see this move so much that they’ll spend their own money to see it happen! Now write us a check!” (I’m not sure how Warner Bros. would feel about those investors getting a cut of the profits, not just a DVD or a signed poster… but hey, I’m going to try for some Chuck-style optimism here.)

Another roadblock to a Pushing Daisies revival is that Fuller is currently working on another show for NBC: “If I weren’t in Toronto finishing up on Hannibal, I’d be knocking on doors at Warner Brothers, asking, ‘Is this a viable plan for Pushing Daisies?’”

It’s OK, Bryan. I’ve survived this long on only meager hints about a Pushing Daisies musical. I can wait for a little longer. As long as I get to see what happens with Ned’s father eventually.

(via: Bleeding Cool)

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