Super Troopers 2 receives record crowdfunding success

A crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for the production of a sequel to the cult hit “Super Troopers” has officially ended with more than $4.4 million raised. The effort, orchestrated by the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, has become the second most successful crowd-funding campaign for a movie or TV Show, overtaking the Alan Tudyk-Nathan Fillion project “Con Man” which raised $3.16 million and behind only the $5.7 million record  generated by the “Veronica Mars” movie campaign.

The original goal for “Super Troopers 2”, which entered into a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox prior to the campaign, was to raise $2 million. That goal was met within 24 hours of the campaign launch thanks to the film’s passionate fans, and within 30 days a total of more than $4.4 million had been raised. More than 50,000 people contributed.

Fourteen years after the original film’s release, “Super Troopers 2” will be brought to life by Broken Lizard – Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske. The original “Super Troopers” focused on the high jinks of five state troopers who managed to bring down a drug smuggling ring despite being absolutely awful at their jobs. It did terribly on its theatrical release, but on its DVD release gained a huge cult following.

Broken Lizard offered a plethora of perks as incentive for people to contribute to their campaign. Make no mistake – this is fundraising done right. Some of the perks offered included being given a producer title or a speaking role in the film, both $10,000. Another was a ballpark trip with the stars for $15,000, and for $35,000 a fan could walk away with the patrol car to be used in filming. The troupe also offered three private standup comedy shows for $20,000. All of these incentives sold out within the first day.

The perks don’t stop there, though. The troupe also offered an incentive called “The Best Men” for $20,000, which was to have “all five members of Broken Lizard attend your wedding and act as your groomsmen (or bridesmaids).” They said they’d even bring a gift.

Some of the lower level perks included autographed scripts and DVDs, exclusive tickets to Super Troopers 2 screenings in the future, and personally having Heffernan’s character, Rod Farva, call you a “chickenfucker” on YouTube – for just $20! Broken Lizard kept the incentives coming, promising “the more money we raise, the more great, fun shit you’ll get to see,” with every quarter-million dollars they raised.

Pre-production for “Super Troopers 2” will now begin in May, with filming to begin in summer.