For stop-motion films made using Lego bricks, see Brickfilm. For video games based on or are original Lego properties, see List of Lego video games.
This article chronicles the history of the depiction of Lego building toys in media franchising with emphasis on film and television co-produced by owner The Lego Group.
History
Brickfilms (films using Lego) have existed since the 1970s. In 2003, Lego officially made its first partnership to make films based on its toy property. They chose Bionicle as the property and they made a deal with Miramax to make a trilogy of Bionicle films. After the trilogy ended, a new trilogy based on Bionicle was planned with Universal Pictures after the Miramax film contract ended and the first film in the new trilogy would be titled Bionicle: The Legend Reborn, but plans broke down between Lego and Universal, resulting in the fifth film being cancelled. Another film was later released, entitled Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers. The film received positive reviews from fans and critics and, after the DVD release, a sequel was set to star Clutch as the hero again. A short film based on Clutch Powers was later released but a full sequel never materialized. The name "Clutch Powers" is a tribute to the term the LEGO Group uses in quality control tests to describe characteristics of the ABS plastic: "clutch power" describes the force with which studs and anti-studs adhere.[1]
In the summer of 2009, Lego made a deal with Warner Bros. Pictures to make a film based on the property. In the same year, Lego also planned the concept for the now successful theme Lego Ninjago. In 2011, Lego released a TV series titled Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu and Ninjago series achieved popularity. A video game based on the show was later released and the show reached its planned conclusion after a two-year run.
A new show titled Legends of Chima aired in January 2013 and was intended to be Ninjago's successor. The show received mixed reviews, however, with Lego fans instead demanding the return of Ninjago. Lego revived Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu in 2014 with a new season and continued to release 1–2 seasons every year.
Initially titled "Lego: The Piece of Resistance", the film was later renamed The Lego Movie by Warner Bros. and was released in February 2014. Due to the critical and commercial success of the film, it launched a franchise, and its sequel, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, was released five years later, while its spin-offs, The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie, were released in 2017, with an animated television series titled Unikitty! premiering in the same year. The Lego Ninjago Movie is not connected to the events shown in the television show.
In 2014, Mixels also debuted. In late 2015, Nexo Knights was introduced, replacing Legends of Chima.
In late 2016, Ninjago released a Halloween TV special for its fifth anniversary.
An additional film with Warner Bros named Billion Brick Race was planned, but cancelled in 2018 for unknown reasons. Little is known about what the film was supposed to be, with the exception of some concept artwork shared by director Jorge Gutierrez.
In March 2019, Ninjago released an 88-minute TV movie called March of the Oni on Cartoon Network, which also celebrated the 100th episode of the show. The show reached its 11th year of airing having released season 15 in 2022.
By April 2020, Universal Pictures established a five-year deal for exclusive rights for the production of further Lego films with The Lego Group; the four existing Lego films made by Warner Bros. (The Lego Movie, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, The Lego Batman Movie, and The Lego Ninjago Movie) would stay with that studio. This move allows Universal to make separate Lego films.[2][3][4]
On August 5, 2022, in a podcast interview with The Ankler, Dan Lin revealed that he'll produce an upcoming Lego film that is in development, saying "We know we have to switch it up and take to a different art form that's still true to LEGO." Lin promised that the creative team had "reinvented" the Lego world for the film, but it does not yet have a release date.[5][6] By July 2023, it was announced that it will be a live-action/animation hybrid similar to the films of The Lego Movie franchise, and that Aaron and Adam Nee were attached to direct the film.[7][8]
In January 2024, it was announced that Pharrell Williams was making an animated biographical film of his career, titled Piece by Piece, in Lego form. It was released on October 11, 2024, by Focus Features the United States and Canada, and Universal Pictures internationally.[9]
In October 2024, Universal Pictures confirmed the production of three new LEGO films, each directed by Jake Kasdan, Patty Jenkins, and Joe Cornish. Kasdan’s film is based on an original concept by Matt Mider and Kevin Burrows, featuring a script by Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul. Jenkins is working with Geoff Johns to write the screenplay of her film. Cornish, in turn, is revising a draft by Heather Anne Campbell based on a treatment by Simon Rich. These films are announced to be set in live-action.[10] A new live-action film set in the Lego Ninjago theme is also confirmed, and will be written by Dan and Kevin Hageman, who were initially the head writers of the first nine seasons of the original Ninjago television series.[11] It remains unclear whether these films will incorporate animation in any form or be entirely live-action.
