Three Lego movies in the works amid supercharged studio demand for toy movies

Everything is awesome. Is it? Is it?!

You can always trust Hollywood to dig through the same toy box and pick something remarkably similar to what they were just playing with.

There are not one, not two but three new Lego movies in the works from The Lego Group and Universal Pictures – and they have roped in three well-known filmmakers to helm them.

Patty Jenkins, Jake Kasdan and Joe Cornish will each direct one of the in-development films.

None are surprising choices, having all worked on tonally similar projects. Kasdan made the Jumanji revivals which may as well be toy movies while Cornish’s most recent flick was The Kid Who Would Be King, a family-friendly adventure film.

Jenkins started her career with the gritty crime drama Monster, which earned Charlize Theron her Oscar, but directed the two Wonder Woman movies in 2017 and 2020 and was, at one point, attached to a Star Wars project.

The three scripts are in various stages of development with Jenkins and Cornish also credited on the screenplays for their films.

In the past decade, Lego has released four cinema features – The Lego Movie, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Lego Batman and Lego Ninjango. Collectively, the have grossed over $US1 billion at the global box office.

There is also upcoming Piece by Piece, a biopic of Pharrell Williams’ life told through Lego animation, that will be released on December 5.

While Lego has had a successful run at the cinemas, the $US1.44 billion collected by Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie in 2023 has supercharged plans for toy-related IP projects.

Margot Robbie’s production house, LuckyChap, led the charge on Barbie and, hoping to replicate that success, is also working on a Monopoly movie based on the iconic board game, and a Sims film, drawn from the sandbox video game.

The Daniel Kaluuya-starring Barney movie is still in development, although it has gone quiet for the past year. It is supposed to be a more adult and dark version of the purple dinosaur’s story.

Last year, Mattel executive Kevin McKeon said it would be surreal like Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze films (the two made Being John Malkovich) and focus on the challenges of people in their 30s.

There is also a Polly Pocket movie in pre-production with Lily Collins attached to the star. Lena Dunham was previously slated to write and direct but she revealed in July that she was no longer working on it, and she credited Gerwig’s Barbie with her decision.

“I think Greta managed this incredible feat, which was to make this thing that was literally candy to so many different kinds of people and was perfectly and divinely Greta. I felt like, unless I can do it that way, I’m not going to do it,” Dunham told The New Yorker.

“I don’t think I have that in me. I feel like the next movie I make needs to feel like a movie that I absolutely have to make. No one but me could make it. And I did think other people could make Polly Pocket.”

Among the other Mattel movies in development are ones centred on Thomas and Friends, American Girl dolls, Hot Wheels (J.J. Abrams is involved), Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots (Vin Diesel is set to produce and star) and Uno.

Earlier this month, Mattel confirmed it was turning its View-Master toy into a live-action movie at Sony. The toy company’s film president, Robbie Brenner, said, “View-Master has inspired generations to embark on boundless adventures, offering a treasure trove of storytelling possibilities for this film.”

There is also another version of Cluedo coming with Ryan Reynolds attached. The murder mystery board game had previously been adapted into the cult favourite 1985 comedic farce starring Tim Curry.

While toys are becoming serious IP sources for movies, not everyone thinks it was a good trend. Last year, actor and filmmaker Randall Park said, “I feel like, just in general, this industry is taking the wrong lessons.

“For example, Barbie is this massive blockbuster, and the idea is ‘Make more movies about toys’. No. Make more movies by and about women.”