The Lego Movie

This article is about the film. For the franchise, see The Lego Movie (franchise). For the Lego theme, see The Lego Movie (Lego theme).
"Lego Movie" redirects here. For stop-motion films made using Lego bricks, see Brickfilm. For other Lego films, see List of Lego films and TV series.

The Lego Movie
Lego construction worker Emmet is running away from a bright light with other Lego characters running alongside him.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Screenplay by
  • Phil Lord
  • Christopher Miller
Story by
Based onLego Construction Toys
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography
Edited by
Music byMark Mothersbaugh
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • February 1, 2014 (2014-02-01) (Regency Village Theater)
  • February 6, 2014 (2014-02-06) (Denmark)
  • February 7, 2014 (2014-02-07) (United States)
  • April 3, 2014 (2014-04-03) (Australia)
Running time
101 minutes[4]
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60–65 million[6][7]
Box office$470.7 million[8]

The Lego Movie is a 2014 animated adventure comedy film co-produced by Warner Animation Group, Village Roadshow Pictures, Lego System A/S, Vertigo Entertainment, and Lin Pictures, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. A collaboration between production houses from the United States, Australia, and Denmark. It was written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a story they co-wrote with Dan and Kevin Hageman, based on the Lego line of construction toys. The film stars the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman. Its story focuses on Emmet Brickowski (Pratt), an ordinary Lego minifigure who helps a resistance movement stop a tyrannical businessman (Ferrell) from gluing everything in the Lego world into his vision of perfection.

Plans of a feature film based on Lego started in 2008 after a discussion between producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee before Lin left Warner Bros. to form his own production company, Lin Pictures. By August 2009, it was announced that Dan and Kevin Hageman had begun writing the script. It was officially green-lit by Warner Bros. in November 2011 with a planned 2014 release date. Chris McKay was brought in to co-direct in 2011 with Lord and Miller, and later became the film's animation supervisor. The film was inspired by the visual aesthetic and stylistics of Brickfilms and qualities attributed to Lego Studios sets. While Lord and Miller wanted to make the film's animation replicate a stop motion film, everything was done through computer graphics, with the animation rigs following the same articulation limits actual Lego figures have. Much of the cast signed on to voice the characters in 2012, including Pratt, Ferrell, Banks, Arnett, Freeman, and Brie, while the animation was provided by Animal Logic, which was expected to comprise 80% of the film. The film was dedicated to Kathleen Fleming, the former director of entertainment development of the Lego company, who had died in Cancún, Mexico, in April 2013.[9][10]

The Lego Movie premiered in Los Angeles on February 1, 2014, and was released theatrically in the United States on February 7. It became a critical and commercial success, grossing $470.7 million worldwide against its $60–65 million budget, and received acclaim for its animation, writing, story, humor, score, and voice acting. The National Board of Review named The Lego Movie one of the top-ten films of 2014. It received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 87th Academy Awards, among numerous other accolades. The Lego Movie is the first entry in what became the franchise of the same name, which includes three more films—The Lego Batman Movie, The Lego Ninjago Movie (both 2017), and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019).

  1. ^ McNary, Dave (May 6, 2014). "Warner Bros. Sets Two New Animation Releases for 2017 and 2018". Variety. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2018. "Lego," the first film to go out as a Warner Animation Group title, has overperformed with $457 million worldwide and set a sequel for release on May 26, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "The Lego Movie". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference mediaday was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "The Lego Movie". Australian Classification Board. February 4, 2014. Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "The Lego Movie (2014)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  6. ^ "'Lego Movie' Can Save Warner Bros. Animation". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference THRCutOut was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "The Lego Movie". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  9. ^ "Kathleen Fleming, Lego Production Exec, Dies at 39". Variety. May 3, 2013. Archived from the original on May 6, 2013.
  10. ^ "Muere turista canadiense al caer de un balcón en Cancún". Excélsior (in Spanish). May 8, 2013. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.