Though there have been many Lego movies over the years, next year’s The Lego Movie marks the brand’s first full theatrical feature. And that, folks, is definitely something to get excited about.
Helmed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the co-directors of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the animated comedy boasts an all-star voice cast, and is pretty much guaranteed to be a winner early next year. And whilst its February 2014 release date might still seem a way off, we all know that it will be coming around in no time. And now Warner Bros. have released a brilliant first trailer for the film, giving us our first look at what we can expect Lego to look like on the big screen.
Emmet, an ordinary guy, is mistaken as being the one who can save the universe. With the aid of an old mystic, a tough female and Batman, Emmet will fight to defeat the evil tyrant bent on destroying the universe by gluing it together.
Chris Pratt takes the lead as Emmet, and he’s joined by Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Alison Brie, and Nick Offerman.
Lord and Miller are directing from a script they co-wrote, working from a story they co-wrote alongside Kevin and Dan Hageman (Hotel Transylvania).
Given how widespread the original toys are, with Lego making up the building blocks (pun slightly intended) of a huge number of people’s childhoods across several generations, I think there’s a very real possibility that The Lego Movie will be our first billion-dollar film of 2014. (With the exception of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which I expect will pass the billion-dollar mark early next year, following its release this December).
Its February release slot makes that aspiration something of a tall order. With the exception of Skyfall (October) and Alice in Wonderland (March), the billion dollar movies have all been either summer or December blockbusters. Tim Burton’s Alice is the only film to cross a billion dollars before summer, but I’m hoping that Lord and Miller’s return to animation will mark the second on the list.
The Lego Movie is set to be released on February 7th, 2014 in the US, with its UK release date following a week later on Valentine’s Day, February 14th.
