The Playlist

Watch: First Trailer For 'The Lego Movie' From The Directors Of 'Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs'

By Edward Davis
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June 18, 2013 7:28 PM
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5 Comments

News

Isn't there a Lego movie every other week with Batman, Superman and Star Wars? It's honestly hard to tell, there's a Lego trailer all the time and this writer personally just drowns them all out, but Warner Bros.' "The Lego Movie" is something else entirely. First up, it's directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directors behind "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" who more than successfully transferred over into the world of live action with "21 Jump Street." Writers and directors from the animation world, they have a great sense of comedy, rhythm, dimension and space; must-have elements for filmmakers.Well, they're back in the world of animation with "Lego: The Movie," and as lame and generic as the title may be — the whole thing can seem like just an excuse to sell toys (which it probably is, anyhow —the trailer is admittedly awesome.

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Warner Bros Create Pixar-Style Brain Trust For Animated Films, Includes Phil Lord & Chris Miller, Nicholas Stoller And More

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 7, 2013 4:47 PM
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2 Comments

News

This was bound to happen, we're mostly just surprised it didn't happen sooner. You would think that with Pixar's long-standing track record of proving that originality, high standards and creative vision can produce results that please both audiences and critics, rival studios would copycat their Brain Trust structure. As much a part of their brand as the lamp in their logo, Pixar's Brain Trust -- a collection of writers, directors and more -- routinely look at in-progress projects, break them down, pick them apart and build them back up again, all to create the best movie possible. Animated movies take years to make, and yet the Brain Trust won't see one to completion unless it rigorously passes muster (though that doesn't explain "Cars 2"). At any rate, Warner Bros. is going to give the concept a shot.

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Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Nick Offerman & Alison Brie Join 'Lego: The Piece Of Resistance'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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November 9, 2012 1:55 PM
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2 Comments

News

Ordinarily, toy brand + celeb voice = us falling asleep. But, it's Lego and we pretty much like everyone who is coming on board a lot, and the guys directing it are solid too. So, color us optimistic. And really, how can you not like these latest additions?

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Rebecca Hall & Eric Bana's 'Closed Circuit' Gets August 28, 2013 Release Date; 'Lego' Moves Up A Few Weeks

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 24, 2012 1:52 PM
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0 Comments

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A couple of release date updates, so get out your day planner and find out why you might have to cancel on your Mom's birthday party...

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Morgan Freeman & Elizabeth Banks Lend Voices To 'Lego: The Piece Of Resistance'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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August 27, 2012 7:44 PM
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2 Comments

News

Ordinarily, the idea of turning Lego into a movie is something that would make our stomach churn and eyes roll back into the far recesses of our head, but there is something about the approach "21 Jump Street" helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller (along with Chris McKay) are bringing to the movie. The plot is pretty inventive, centering on Emmett, a regular everyday little Lego figure, who is mistaken as a MasterBuilder and suddenly becomes part of a group on a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing everything together. It's basically an excuse to run through a variety of Lego worlds, and a pretty good one at that, and with Chris Pratt taking the lead and Will Arnett stopping by as Batman (awesome), we now hear of two more voices pitching in.

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So Much Awesome: Will Arnett Is Batman, Channing Tatum Possibly Superman In 'Lego: The Piece Of Resistance'; Chris Pratt Leads Cast

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 26, 2012 5:23 PM
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7 Comments

News

On paper, the idea of a movie based on Lego sounds ridiculous and so easy to be exploited into a quick cash grab, brainless, toy brand blockbuster. But thankfully, the folks behind "Lego: The Piece Of Resistance" are putting their aims high for something that sounds like it's going to be a total blast. Anyway, we'll just fastforward to the good part: Batman and Superman are gonna be in this.

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Jackie Robinson Biopic '42,' Phil Lord & Chris Miller's 'Lego' Movie & 'Celeste & Jesse Forever' Get Release Dates

By Joe Cunningham
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April 24, 2012 10:19 AM
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Want to know when you might be able to see some of the movies that you might be interested in seeing? Yes? That’s good, because we’ve got somewhat of a release date round-up for you.

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SXSW '12: Mark Mothersbaugh Confirms He's Scoring 'Lego,' Talks Working On Wes Anderson's 'Bottle Rocket' & More

By Drew Taylor
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March 14, 2012 10:03 AM
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1 Comment

News

SXSW is usually an incredibly streamlined and well-organized film festival, with everything working with the smoothness of a Swiss watch. But yesterday must have been an "off" day, as a panel centered around beloved film composer and Devo member Mark Mothersbaugh started about ten minutes late and (for some reason) a retrospective video for Mothersbaugh, produced back in 2004, played for another 20 minutes. Meaning that the tight hour that was allotted for the composer was actually more like 30 minutes. And while we wished it were longer, it was worth sticking around for the stories Mothersbaugh shared.

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'21 Jump Street' Directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller Reveal The Tagline They're Pitching For The 'Lego' Movie

By Drew Taylor
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March 13, 2012 10:02 AM
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While talking with "21 Jump Street" directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller about their upcoming (and, it should be noted, totally wonderful) adaptation of the beloved 1980s television series (and we'll have their thoughts and insights on that soon), we had to ask them about their future projects, including their new animated "Lego" film. It was announced last fall they would be taking on the green-lit movie at Warner Bros., with "Robot Chicken" helmer Chris McKay joining them as well, and they confirmed the live action/animated hybrid is next.

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'Robot Chicken' Helmer Chris McKay To Co-Direct 'Lego' With Phil Lord & Chris Miller; 2014 Release Pegged

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 14, 2011 9:49 AM
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The various movies in development based on childhood toys and board games, probably the most serious symptom of the creative bankruptcy facing most studios, have, thankfully, yet to come to pass for the most part. McG's "Ouija" had the plug pulled on it, Ridley Scott's "Monopoly" remains stranded in development hell, and films based on the likes of "View-Master" and "Candyland," while threatened, have never made it into production.

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