While the folks as Disney/Pixar don't have anything to worry about quite yet, the creative minds behind the Lego Movie franchise have created a nifty little enterprise for themselves.
After "The Lego Movie" in 2014 became a surprise hit, earning $469 million on a budget of $60 million, and "The Lego Batman Movie" this year did nearly as well, the folks at Denmark's The Lego Group found themselves with a solid foothold in the animated movie business.
The Lego Group's signature product, of course, is their line of toys, the colorful and seemingly-indestructible plastic bricks children can use to design and build virtually anything. Lego bricks have since their introduction in 1949 become a worldwide phenomenon, actually replacing Ferrari in 2015 as the world's most powerful brand name.
The creative minds behind the Lego movies so far are navigating with remarkable grace the razor-thin line which separates silliness from camp, and archness from innocence. And they're doing it by somehow channeling the undiluted wonder of a child's infinite imagination and combining it with the elbow-in-the-ribs, wiseguy brand humor of the animators at the Warner Bros. studios, the creators of Bugs Bunny, the Road Runner, and dozens of other beloved characters.
"The Lego Ninjago Movie" is the first Lego production to be based on a specific Lego product instead of a genre or a character, and therefore bears the faint scent of commercialism. Such an enterprise has worked quite well, however, for the Walt Disney organization, which has built entire film franchises around individual attractions at their theme parks—the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series after five installments has earned a worldwide total of nearly $4.5 trillion.
Opening in 4047 theaters across the country, "The Lego Ninjago Movie" was expected to earn over $27 million during its opening weekend, but due to lackluster ticket sales the picture actually finished with a little over $21 million in gross earnings.
The picture has received a 53% average approval rating from 64 reviews included on the Rotten Tomatoes website, and an average audience rating of B-plus from CinemaScore—fairly undistinguished by Lego Movie standards, but still eminently respectable for an animated motion picture.
"The Lego Ninjago Movie," with a PG rating from the MPAA, is suitable for all audiences...and recommended for most.
After "The Lego Movie" in 2014 became a surprise hit, earning $469 million on a budget of $60 million, and "The Lego Batman Movie" this year did nearly as well, the folks at Denmark's The Lego Group found themselves with a solid foothold in the animated movie business.
The Lego Group's signature product, of course, is their line of toys, the colorful and seemingly-indestructible plastic bricks children can use to design and build virtually anything. Lego bricks have since their introduction in 1949 become a worldwide phenomenon, actually replacing Ferrari in 2015 as the world's most powerful brand name.
The creative minds behind the Lego movies so far are navigating with remarkable grace the razor-thin line which separates silliness from camp, and archness from innocence. And they're doing it by somehow channeling the undiluted wonder of a child's infinite imagination and combining it with the elbow-in-the-ribs, wiseguy brand humor of the animators at the Warner Bros. studios, the creators of Bugs Bunny, the Road Runner, and dozens of other beloved characters.
"The Lego Ninjago Movie" is the first Lego production to be based on a specific Lego product instead of a genre or a character, and therefore bears the faint scent of commercialism. Such an enterprise has worked quite well, however, for the Walt Disney organization, which has built entire film franchises around individual attractions at their theme parks—the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series after five installments has earned a worldwide total of nearly $4.5 trillion.
Opening in 4047 theaters across the country, "The Lego Ninjago Movie" was expected to earn over $27 million during its opening weekend, but due to lackluster ticket sales the picture actually finished with a little over $21 million in gross earnings.
The picture has received a 53% average approval rating from 64 reviews included on the Rotten Tomatoes website, and an average audience rating of B-plus from CinemaScore—fairly undistinguished by Lego Movie standards, but still eminently respectable for an animated motion picture.
"The Lego Ninjago Movie," with a PG rating from the MPAA, is suitable for all audiences...and recommended for most.