Jill Wilfert, Lego’s head of global entertainment, says that there were “probably” too many theatrical Lego movies that were released too close together.
Speaking with Variety, Wilfert reflected on the ten-year anniversary of 2014’s The Lego Movie. When asked about the three theatrically released movies that followed the original film, Wilfert said, “In hindsight, we would probably say we had too many films too close together.”
She continued, “All those movies did get good reviews. If you even look back to Lego 2 the reviews were better than the box office might indicate. I think people that did see it really did enjoy it. But really, in the film industry, it’s tough. I think you have to bring something unexpected to the table. And for us, going through that timeframe we felt like it was the right time to maybe take a little bit of a pause, re-evaluate what we’re doing. In addition to the films we also have been very active in the serialized content space, so we continue to create content tied to these properties. So we really at that point focused on continuing to fuel our franchises with animation and then go into a new space with more of reality-style television with Lego Masters, which has been hugely successful for us.”
What theatrical Lego movies have there been?
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, The Lego Movie made approximately $468.1 million at the global box office. The film’s voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, and Liam Neeson.
The Lego Batman Movie, directed by Chris McKay, came in February 2017. The Lego Ninjago Movie then hit theaters in September 2017, with The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part then arriving in February 2019.
According to a July 2023 article from Variety, The Lost City’s Adam and Aaron Nee are now developing a “hybrid live-action animation film around the Lego franchise” for Universal Pictures. Further details are not available at this time.
