The Lego Batman Movie

For the Lego theme associated with this film, see The Lego Batman Movie (Lego theme). For the 2013 film, see Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite.

The Lego Batman Movie
Batman, Robin, Batgirl and the rest of DC characters are on the run for the yellow background from Lego.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byChris McKay
Screenplay by
Story bySeth Grahame-Smith
Based on
Produced by
Starring
Edited by
Music byLorne Balfe
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures[2]
Release dates
  • January 29, 2017 (2017-01-29) (Dublin)[3]
  • February 9, 2017 (2017-02-09) (Denmark)
  • February 10, 2017 (2017-02-10) (United States)
  • March 30, 2017 (2017-03-30) (Australia)
Running time
104 minutes[4]
Countries
  • Australia
  • Denmark
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$80 million[5]
Box office$312.2 million[6]

The Lego Batman Movie is a 2017 animated superhero comedy film, based on characters created by DC Comics and the Lego Batman toy line. It was directed by Chris McKay (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay that was based on a Seth Grahame-Smith story. The film is a collaboration between production houses from the United States, Australia, and Denmark, the first spin-off in The Lego Movie franchise and the second installment overall. The film features Will Arnett reprising his role as Batman from The Lego Movie alongside Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, and Ralph Fiennes. The story follows Batman as he attempts to overcome his greatest fear while saving Gotham City from the Joker's latest scheme.

Development of The Lego Batman Movie started in October 2014, after Warner Bros. announced several Lego films, following the critical and commercial success of The Lego Movie. Chris McKay was hired to direct after being replaced by Rob Schrab as director of the sequel to The Lego Movie. He cited both The Naked Gun and Airplane! film series as his main inspirations. Casting calls began in July to November 2015. The film pays homage to previous Batman films, cartoons, and comics, and also features characters from other notable franchises and film series with them. Like The Lego Movie, the animation was provided by Animal Logic. Lorne Balfe composed the musical score.

The Lego Batman Movie had its world premiere in Dublin, Ireland on January 29, 2017, and was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in U.S. theaters on February 10. The film received generally positive reviews from critics for its animation, voice acting, music, visual style, and humor, and was also commercially successful, having grossed $312 million worldwide against a budget of $80 million. A sequel, Lego Superfriends, was announced in 2018, but was cancelled after Universal Pictures acquired the film rights to the Lego brand in April 2020.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Cite error: The named reference VarietyReview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Film releases". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference RTEWinPassPremiere was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "The LEGO Batman Movie (U)". British Board of Film Classification. January 13, 2017. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  5. ^ Lang, Brent (February 7, 2017). "Box Office: 'Fifty Shades Darker' No Match for 'The Lego Batman Movie'". Variety. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  6. ^ "The Lego Batman Movie (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.