Lego Builds A Blockbuster, Brick By Branded Brick

Lego was so successful in it big-screen debut over the weekend, it looks like the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is going to have to add another Oscar category: Toy in a Leading Role. A similar Clio category might be appropriate, too.

“‘The Lego Movie,’ initially questioned by some film veterans as little more than an offering for very young children, stunned this movie capital over the weekend by snapping together about $69.1 million in North American ticket sales,” writes the New York Times’ Brook Barnes in a review that starts “Sorry George Clooney,” whose star-studded “The Monuments Men” was a distant second. “That astounding result was on par with Pixar’s “Cars,” which went on to take in more than $500 million worldwide in 2006, after adjusting for inflation,” Barnes writes.

advertisement

advertisement

And so it is that Hollywood producers are “scanning the aisles of toy stores, looking for the next hit,” Daniel Miller reports in the Los Angeles Times. “Despite recent high-profile toy-based film missteps like the 2012 flop ‘Battleship,’ Warner Bros.' Lego hit could lead to a toy movie resurgence.”

Miller also cites the success of the Transformers franchise and G.I. Joe as he surveys a development toyscape that includes films based on Hasbro's Ouija board, Mattel's Hot Wheels and Pretty Ugly's Uglydolls among others.

The beauty of a hit movie staring a toy, or a bunch of them, is the symbiotic relationship of those critters for sale on the shelves with the bigger-than-life animated — and wisecracking — superheroes on the screen, of course.

“Thanks to its strong brand and broadly appealing marketing, ‘The Lego Movie’ stacked up one of the highest openings ever for an original animated movie this weekend,” is Ray Subers’ appropriate lede on Box Office Mojo. And, as he points out further down, “the pop culture references and self-aware humor — plenty of which came from Lego Batman — helped lure in adults, which is the key to success with animated movies (after all, they're the ones paying for it).”

Of course, you’ve got to have more than just a pretty toy up there on the 3D screen to guarantee success. You’ve got to have content marketing and social media and blockbuster trailers. Oh yeah, and a story arc and stunning computer graphics and catchy music and all those creative elements to generate positive reviews and WOM.

“The Lego Movie” is running at 95% positive on the Tomatometer at Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 8.2/10 and an enticing capsule review: “Boasting beautiful animation, a charming voice cast, laugh-a-minute gags, and a surprisingly thoughtful story, The Lego Movie is colorful fun for all ages.”

“Merely a great film, or the greatest film ever in the history of cinema?” asks reviewer Christy Lemire. “I asked this question — jokingly, rhetorically — during our What the Flick?! review, but the more I think about it, the more in awe I am of the way ‘The Lego Movie’ works on every level for every possible viewer.”

All of this was not created in a merchandising vacuum. Lego, of course, has a tremendous base to build on (like many parents of a certain age, I need only look in my attic) but it has long been “gearing up” for the release of the movie “by introducing all-new construction sets, branded special events and movie ticket promotions,” as  Wendy Goldman Getzler reports on Kidscreen.

“American Toys ‘R’ Us stores are now housing dedicated feature shops that will be stocked with all-new minifigures, vehicles and playsets based on the film, and all US stores will host special events as well as ongoing contests.”

Not to mention Lego City.

All that you expected. But as far as that Clios reference in the lede, “during last night's airing of ‘Dancing On Ice,’ a break featured famous UK adverts recreated using everyone's favorite plastic brick toy, reports the Daily Mirror’s Alistair McGeorge. “While all four of the adverts are done to perfection, the [British Heart Foundation] just gets the nod as our favorite — we just can't say no to a plastic Vinnie Jones giving someone CPR.”

“The entire three-minute break … recreated already-running ads by The British Heart Foundation, Confused.com, BT and Premier Inn (with a Lego rendition of comedian Lenny Henry) before moving on to a promotional trailer for the movie,” Ad Ageexplains.

You be the judge.

Next story loading loading..