The Rise & Fall of the Lego Movie Franchise

Few movies have been as revolutionary to the medium of animation as The LEGO Movie, a 2014 Warner Bros. film that received every degree of an accolade for its innovative story, creative use of its concept, parody and knock-off humor, animation, and more. The profit of the film says enough, grossing nearly $500 million worldwide. It was also highly critically acclaimed, receiving a 96 percent on the movie review platform Rotten Tomatoes, that being the average rating from the reviews of 253 critics. Its success had many contributors, chief among them being that LEGO is a very popular brand for people of all ages to enjoy, as well as that it was a fresh, new concept for film to tackle. So, it is safe to say that the movie was well-executed and well-received, but was it worthy of the franchise that followed?

The first successor of The LEGO Movie to be released was The LEGO Batman Movie. Three years after the first film, the LEGO Batman character returned in a solo story with comedy and heart that barely fell short of the original. The profit and reviews didn’t fall much from the first film either, grossing $312 million and earning a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The concept was still relatively fresh and likely drew in more Batman fans. 

Later in 2017, the franchise would receive another spinoff, The LEGO Ninjago Movie. Originally planned for 2016, the film went through many iterations that ultimately delayed the finished product. However, the end result wasn’t nearly to the standards of the first two films, receiving only a 56 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing just $123 million. It was the first and biggest flop of the franchise. It was the wrong place and wrong time, as it was the second LEGO movie installment in one year and was based on a subtheme of LEGO with a smaller fanbase than Batman or LEGO as a whole. Additionally, many fans of the existing Ninjago TV Show and LEGO sets were dissatisfied with the film as it heavily deviated from the source material. Being so disconnected from the previous LEGO Movies and Ninjago material, The LEGO Ninjago Movie was doomed to fail.

Despite Ninjago’s failure, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part was expected to be a return to the success of the first two. In terms of reviews, it was indeed a success, receiving a score of 86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, its profit was dangerously small, grossing $200 million against a $100 million production budget. The movie was a box-office failure, and many believe it was caused by brand exhaustion. Four films releasing within five years simply wore out the charm. The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part’s failures could also be tied to marketing, as they didn’t do enough to draw older fans back in and attempted to target a more female audience. This is reflected in The LEGO Movie 2 product line which, much like the film itself, simply didn’t sell.

Overall, the LEGO Movies seemed to have good potential for a full franchise, with three out of the four receiving positive reviews. The downfall can be tied to the execution. Releasing two spin-offs in the same year yet waiting so long before putting forth a direct sequel would prove to be a bad decision for the success of the franchise, especially with the lack of popularity around Ninjago. Maybe if The LEGO Ninjago Movie wasn’t delayed a year or was simply canceled, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part could’ve released sooner, like it was originally planned to. Whether or not that would’ve helped the performance of the franchise is unknown, but the way it went caused Warner Bros. to lose all hope and stop producing LEGO films altogether. The films no longer appear to be profitable, but as LEGO continues to be a huge part of the toy industry, it’s hard to say whether or not the beloved bricks will return to the big screen one day.