Way to go, Marshmallows. After years of unsuccessful efforts, it appears it’s all systems go for a “Veronica Mars” movie, thanks to one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns of all time. Creator Rob Thomas launched the campaign to fund a movie of his cult TV show—cancelled after just three seasons in 2007—hoping to raise the $2 million needed to begin shooting. And within hours pledges had exceeded the goal.

“There were a few minutes of nothing happening,” he said. “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.“

By the time it was all said and done, the “Veronica Mars” campaign had broken several Kickstarter records. It was not only the fastest project ever to reach $1 million and $2 million, but the all-time highest funded project in the “film” category, the third-highest funded project in Kickstarter history—with a grand total of $5.7 million raised—and received the most backers of any project in Kickstarter history with 91,585.

And who can blame people for supporting the project? First of all, the television show, starring Bell as a teenage private eye, still has a huge cult following, partially in thanks to its constant airing on Soapnet. But the project also awarded its backers with some sweet thank-you gifts. Even the 5,938 people who only pledged $1 will receive exclusive backer updates throughout the film’s production, and the 8,423 who pledged $10 will get their very own pdf copy of the shooting script on the day of the movie’s release. Another 11,509 backers who pledged $25 will get their own limited-edition “Veronica Mars – The Movie” T-shirt designed specifically for Kickstarter backers. Higher pledge amounts get cool stuff like Blu-Rays, autographed posters of the cast and personalized voice mails or even videos from the cast.

But check this shit out: 152 backers who pledged $150 will get their own reserved seat at the Veronica Mars Fan Event during the San Diego Comic Con July 19. And 40 people who pledged $450 will get a VIP seat at the Comic Con event, plus face time, autographs, photo opps and a meet-and-greet with Rob and the crew.  Another 135 backers who pledged just $400 will get to have Kristen and Rob follow them on Twitter for the next year. For $750, 350 lucky backers will get two tickets to the red carpet Veronica Mars movie premier in Los Angeles, New York or Austin, Texas. And for $1,000 pledge, 300 folks will get to attend the red carpet event plus get invited to the after party.

“Veronica Mars” star Kristen Bell posted the following video just 24 hours before the project closed:

But it gets even better. Twenty backers who pledged $2,500 will be featured as an extra in the “Veronica Mars” movie, 30 people who pledged $3,000 will get to bring a friend to be featured as an extra in the movie with them, and three backers who pledged $6,500 will be able to name a character in the movie. Can it get any better? Oh, but it can. One backer who pledged $10,000 will have his or her own speaking role in the “Veronica Mars” movie.

Why spend the time discussing all these awards for a Kickstarter campaign that has already ended? Because these are the types of awards that make campaigns break records. Sure, “Veronica Mars” has a big fan following, and those fans would love to see Kristen and Co. on the big screen. But without such dynamic thank-you gifts would this campaign have broken so many Kickstarter records? Probably not. And that should be a lesson for future startups. Incentives, incentives, incentives!