The Lego Movie 3

The Lego Movie 3 is a 2024 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the sequel to The Lego Movie (2014) and The Lego Movie 2 (2017) and the seventh film in the LEGO Extended Universe. The film is directed and written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who co-wrote the script alongisde John August, and stars Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman and Charley Day reprising their roles from the previous films. In the film, Emmet Brickowski (Pratt), Wyldstyle (Banks) and their friends team up to save the world from the catastrophic threat of an alien army.

Lord and Miller had discussed plans for a sequel by August 2017. The film was announced in July 2018, with Pratt and Banks in early negotiations to return. Lord and Miller wanted to differentiate the film from their previous installments, seeking to make a film inspired by the typical science fiction of the 1980s. They adapted elements of the filmography of Steven Spielberg and Star Wars. August came on board to contribute to the script in February 2020, with the casting revealed later that year. Production began in early 2021 in Vancouver, Canada, delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and wrapped through 2023.

The Lego Movie 3 premiered in Los Angeles on February 27, 2024, and was released theatrically in the United States on February 2 in Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D, IMAX and IMAX 3D. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its animation, humor, retro tone, and voice acting. The film earned $165.7 million in its opening weekend and grossed over $875 million worldwide, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2024 and was the 15th-highest-grossing animated film of all time during its theatrical run. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards.

Cast

 * Chris Pratt as Emmet Brickowsky
 * Elizabeth Banks as Lucy / Wyldstyle
 * Will Arnett as Batman
 * Alison Brie as Unikitty
 * Charlie Day as Benny
 * Stephanie Beatriz
 * Tiffany Haddish

Development
Following the release of The Lego Movie 2, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller expressed interest in returning to direct and write a third film. By then they had discussed what they would want in a possible third film. For 2018, both prepared treatments, however, they decided to change the narrative to be a science fiction adventure that they began to develop in the following months and July 12, the film was officially announced. At that time the production was slow, due to the tight schedule of the directors. They cited a lack of time to direct and write as a reason the film's development was convoluted in the early stages.

On January 14, 2020, Warner Bros. Pictures officially a release date of February 2, 2024. Dan Lin and Roy Lee were announced as producers a month later, with Lord and Miller serving as executive producers. By the end of June, Lord and Miller had finished a first "volume" of the script they had been working on since 2018, when they got into an argument with August about its plot, who found it interesting and striking. Later that month it was confirmed that Chris Pratt and Elizabeth Banks would be returning, reprising their lead roles from the previous films. As of July 28, Will Arnett was in final talks to play his Batman character. Over the next several weeks, Nick Offerman and Charlie Day confirmed her return and Alison Brie confirmed that she would play Unikitty in a minor role. In June 2021, it was announced that Tiffany Haddish and Stephanie Beatriz had joined the cast as two undisclosed characters, who later revealed themselves to be two girls specializing in astronomy and supernatural things.

Australian animation studio Animal Logic, which contributed to the previous films, announced their cooperation on the film as part of an earlier deal. In August 2021, Lord and Miller said that they would be "bringing some eye-catching elements to the table to make the film a completely different experience from its predecessors" and described themselves as "raptured" by the film's concept. In September, Phil expanded by saying that the film would connect with Lego Dimensions (2022) but it would have a story on a much smaller scale, being able to make the characters, the story and the tone, open interpretations of the production team.

Writing
In May 2020, it was reported that John August would be working alongside Lord and Miller on the script. When they agreed, they discussed a basic set of ideas they already had for the film, and within the first ten days they began working on the new script and coming up with the basic story, inspired primarily by Star Wars (1997). Miller said the story was influenced by the idea of ​​the uncertainty of extraterrestrial life and what it would be like to wake up and discover unknown beings potentially dangerous to everyone with no ability to communicate with them. In addition, the film was described as a typical 1970s and 1980s sci-fi adventure. It began with a rough two-page treatment containing basic beats and rough character sketches, showing the plot as a freak show while They continued to create a story with recognizable characters.

In the initial treatment, they had included elements of the story that they considered for the previous films in the series or that they considered excessive for a single film. The script took a year to develop and although it ended up being the same as the final film, the lines were changed, revised and improved during filming and post-production, including more details about the integration of the villains in the universe; for this they were based on some plot points shown in movies like Independence Day (1996) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). By October 2020, the script was still being written, and August expressed his excitement to do something drastically different from the previous films, feeling that the third act of the film was proving to be more challenging in terms of writing, as many of the arcs of the story converged and needed to be resolved.

Lord and Miller, and by early July the draft script had been completed. At the end of that same month, they announced that they had been writing the script on and off for over three years up to that point and that final work would begin that week. They said that it was very explosive and explained that they saw the film as something retro with a classic neon aesthetic, which saw its popular use in the United States in the 1950s. In December, it was reported that Lord and Miller had completed a script for the film, however they denied this a month later.

Animation and desing
In February 2021, production was scheduled to begin that same year at the Animal Logic studio in Vancouver, Canada and by May it entered the process after various screenings and suggestions, and a three-month evaluation. The film was heavily influenced by art and neon aesthetic; The final battle went through many rewrites, Lord and Miller initially describing it as a battle in space inspired by Return of the Jedi (1983), before being changed to a "more earthy, explosive and monstrous" confrontation for the viewer.

Marketing
The first pictures from the film was shown on the official Lego website in April 2023. Lord and Miller and the cast promoted the film at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con along with the debut of the teaser trailer which received 162 million views in its first 24 hours of release, the largest for a franchise film and the second-largest ever for an animated film.

Release
The Lego Movie 3 is scheduled to be released in the United States on February 2, 2024.