After scoring a critical and commercial hit back in 2014 with The LEGO Movie, Warner Bros. decided to follow standard Hollywood protocol by announcing a slate of sequels and spinoffs in this LEGO universe.
2017 saw the arrival of The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Ninjago Movie, both to diminishing box office returns, while this year’s sequel The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part failed to halt the slump, opening soft with just $53.2 million worldwide in its first weekend and grossing just $154.3 million to date (a far cry from the original’s $469.2 million haul).
Speaking to The L.A. Times, Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara has admitted that the box office underperformance came as a surprise, and – much like they have with DC after Justice League – the studio will need to rethink its approach to the franchise.
“It didn’t do as well as tracking would’ve suggested, which was a little puzzling,” said Tsujihara. “The first movie was so fresh and so different. We need to continually rethink the experience, but the LEGO brand is incredibly strong. On the game side, it’s been an incredible franchise. We acquired [LEGO video game maker] TT Games 12 years ago, and it really was a cornerstone of everything we’ve done in games.”
Warner Bros. currently has two further LEGO movies in development – The LEGO Batman Movie 2 and The Billion Brick Race – although whether these still remain priorities for WB after the underperformance of The LEGO Movie 2 remains to be seen.
Do you want to see more LEGO movies? Or should Warner Bros. let the franchise rest for a while? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or tweet us @FlickeringMyth…
“The LEGO® Movie 2” reunites the heroes of Bricksburg in an all new action-packed adventure to save their beloved city. It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO® invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild. The battle to defeat them and restore harmony to the LEGO universe will take Emmet, Lucy, Batman and their friends to faraway, unexplored worlds, including a strange galaxy where everything is a musical. It will test their courage, creativity and Master Building skills, and reveal just how special they really are.
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is directed by Mike Mitchell (The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water) and Trisha Gum and features a voice cast that includes Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Emmet Brickowski and Rex Dangervest, Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games) as Wyldstyle, Will Arnett (Arrested Development) as LEGO Batman, Alison Brie (Glow) as Unikitty, Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) as Metal Beard, Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street) as Superman, Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street) as Green Lantern, Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as Sweet Mayhem, Arturo Castro (Broad City) as Ice Cream Cone, Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip) as Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi, Jason Momoa (Justice League) as Aquaman, Gal Gadot (Justice League) as Wonder Woman and Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad) as Harley Quinn.
