When Felicia Day first announced that she was planning a reunion movie for the 19-year-old webseries The Guild back in March, there was a bit of consternation over whether the world wanted this – and whether it would be able to crowdfund. Well, you needn’t have worried because true MMO nerds came out in droves to fund the project when it opened on Kickstarter last night. Day and her co-creators sought $1.5M and already have $2.5M with over 15K backers so far and a whole month of crowdfunding to go. Either way, that movie is getting made – just in time for the webseries’ 20th anniversary.
“Luckily I kept the rights to the show all these years, so no Hollywood exec can tell me what to do with it. SUCK IT, SUITS,” Day jokes in the promotional video. Well, she’s making it a joke, but it’s dead serious: In the Kickstarter text, she clarifies that when she pitched the movie to studio execs, they wanted to recast the whole thing and aim it at kids, which is… sort of not the point of a reunion movie for the middle-aged crowd of gamers who are still here (hi) and gaming (hey) and buying stuff (hello). Hence, the Kickstarter.
It sounds as if Day has all the OG cast and some special guests – some obscure dude named “Wil Wheaton” among them – to make a Ren Faire-themed Guild movie. There’s merch coming too, of course, along with a “dating sim” card game, tabletop RPG, and a “poopcorn bucket” so you can eat popcorn from a medieval-inspired poopin’ bucket (what else would it be?). That card game, by the way, comes in an exclusive format with the likenesses of additional stars like Alan Tudyk, Weird Al, and, um, Jimothy.
As I type this, there aren’t any posted stretch goals, but it does say “coming soon,” so stay tuned. Either way, this show is happening.
