Lego… The Movie?
Warner Bros. have been given the green light for a CGI / live action feature film based on the popular children’s building blocks.
Leading the team will be writer directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the American pair who in 2009 dished up the tasty treat Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Joining them will be Chris McKay, director of Adult Swim’s stop-motion animation / comedy “Robot Chicken,” to serve as co-director.
Plans to bring the toy to the big screen have been in development since 2008, the studio have already brought on-board Australian visual effects house Animal Logic (Happy Feet, Legend of the Guardians) to create the animation, which is expected to be 80% lego. The plot details are sketchy, however we do know the film will be a family friendly action-adventure set in a Lego world. Casting for the live action roles is due to start in January.
All this comes a week before Warner’s opening of Happy Feet 2, from helmer George Miller and Dr. D Studios, five years after the original Happy Feet grossed $384 million worldwide and won the Oscar for animated feature as Animal Logic’s first CG feature.
Lego was originally designed in the 1940s in Denmark and has achieved international appeal ever since. Besides it’s popularity as a toy, it has also found fame in video games, amusement parks and straight-to-DVD adventures, however this will be it’s first Hollywood outing at the cinema.
Due for release in 2014, one thing’s for sure, it’s likely to be a huge block-buster.