Lego Dimensions (film)

Lego Dimensions is a 2022 computer-animated comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Based on the videogame of the same name it is the 6th installment in the LEGO Extended Universe (LEU). Directed and written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the film features an ensemble cast including Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Elijah Wood, Will Arnett, Dave Franco, Michael Cera, Michael Peña, Rosario Dawson, Alison Brie, Abbi Jacobson, Emma Stone and Fred Armisen. In the film, an interdimensional rift forms causing various supervillains to collide and the greatest heroes unite to stop the danger that threatens the multiverse.

Lego Dimensions premiered in Los Angeles on August 21, 2022, and was released in the United States and United Kingdom on September 2, 2022. The film grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it the 7th-highest-grossing animated film of all time at the time of its release and the 5th-hightest-grossing film of 2022. Lego Dimensions received praise fo screenplay, humor, animation, action sequences and voice acting, and garnered numerous awards and nominations including BAFTA nominations.

Premise

 * The fearless adaptation of the video game LEGO Dimensions presents us with a group of unknown people gather to save the world from submission under a great Interdimensional crisis, which puts the lands in check thanks to the greatest villains.

Cast

 * Chris Pratt as Emmet Brickowski, an everyman, construction worker, and a Master Builder from Bricksburg.
 * Elizabeth Banks as Lucy / Wyldstyle, a Master Builder and Emmet's girlfriend.
 * Elijah Wood as Brody Reyes, a man who traveled the world in day after verse pursued by the FBI.
 * Will Arnett as Bruce Wayne / Batman, a DC Comics superhero who is a Master Builder
 * Dave Franco as Lloyd, the Green Ninja, leader of the Secret Ninja Force, Lord Garmadon and Koko's son and Master Wu's nephew.
 * Michael Cera as Dick Grayson / Robin, an orphan who is adopted by Bruce Wayne, and becomes a sidekick to Batman.
 * Michael Peña as Kai, the hotheaded red Ninja of Fire and Nya's brother.
 * Rosario Dawson as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, the police commissioner of Gotham, she comes to trust Batman.
 * Alison Brie as Unikitty, a Master Builder who is a unicorn-horned cat.
 * Emma Stone as Jane Dangerburger, a hyper-intelligent girl and the right hand and love interest of Brody Reyes.
 * Fred Armisen as Cole, the laid-back music-loving black Ninja of Earth.
 * Nick Offerman as MetalBeard, a Master Builder who is a large bionic pirate with a severed head after he lost his original body in an earlier encounter with Lord Business' forces
 * Kumail Nanjiani as Jay, the quiet and cautious blue Ninja of Lightning.
 * Jenny Slate as Harley Quinn, The Joker's girlfriend and accomplice. She subsequently betrays him and they break off their relationship.
 * Charlie Day as Benny, a Master Builder who is a spaceship-obsessed 1980s spaceman
 * Zach Woods as Zane, the robotic white Ninja of Ice.
 * Abbi Jacobson as Nya, the strong silver Ninja of Water, Kai's sister, and Jay's crush.
 * Stephanie Beatriz as General Sweet Mayhem
 * Zach Galifianakis as Joker, a clown-themed villain in Gotham City and Batman's archenemy.
 * Ralph Fiennes as Alfred Pennyworth
 * Tiffany Haddish as Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi, the ex-shape-shifting alien queen of the Systar System.
 * Anika Noni Rose as Frankie Reyes, Brody Reyes' sister, she is a mechanic who has discovered her Master Builder power.
 * Dwayne Johnson as Mr. Wonderful, a extremis superhero.

Stephanie Beatriz and Jackie Chan reprise their roles from previous films like Sweet Mayhem and Master Wu. , respectively. Channing Tatum returns to voice Superman, along with Jason Mamoa, Jonah Hill and Cobie Smulders voicing Aquaman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. Justin Theroux returns as Lord Garmaddon and Ellie Kemper as Phyllis. Lord Vortech, in a post-credits scene, is voiced by Gary Oldman (who voiced him in the original video game). Mike Mitchell, Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Chris Mckay, Rob Schrab and Charlie Bean make cameo appearances as themselves in a lively reunion as the directors of every film in the franchise up to that point.

Development
Ideas for a crossover film began in July 2017, with plans to release the film in the 2020s, after the successful reception of The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Movie Sequel months earlier. A directors' room met in late May 2018, where plans were discussed for a set "shared universe", where all the characters would collide on screen; Jorge R. Gutierrez added references and a last-minute post-credit scene to The Billion Brick Race at the request of Warner Bros. According to Lord and Miller, who were tapped as directors and writers the following December, there were comments and jokes compared to The Avengers in the room

Shortly after production on The Billion Brick Race was completed, Kevin Tsujihara explained that the film would be "ushering in the future" of Lego movies. Later in 2018, Tsujihara mentioned that the treatments for the story would be based on the canceled Lego Dimensions video game and that the film was also intended to draw references to the existence of other popular culture characters in the universe, opening up the option of including them themselves. later. The film was officially announced in a press release from Warner Bros. in September 2019, under the name Lego Dimensions. Following negotiations between the studio and The Lego Group to continue producing more films, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, development on the project was put on hold until May 2020, when it resumed to begin production in Canada from home in November.

Writing
A tentative release date of May 2022 was announced in February 2021. Phill Lord and Christopher Miller reaffirmed on August 3, 2021 that the title of the film is Lego Dimensions, and stated that the film would be loosely based on the story of the film. video game, without having Lord Vortech involved, and being "somewhat more mature than the previous films, while still having the characteristic optimism and grace". Despite this, it was later revealed that having Lord Vortech as the main antagonist was highly regarded, but was dropped to give more creative freedom to the story.

Casting
Casting began in late 2019 and it was reported that Warner Bros. was taking steps to bring back the full cast of the previous five films. Chris Pratt as Emmet, Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle and Will Arnett as Batman announced for April 2021 participation. Elijah Wood and Emma Stone signed in June. In November 2021, Jason Momoa would reprise his role as Aquaman from the DC Extended Universe, along with the full cast of the Justice League from the previous films. Zach Galifianakis returned as the Joker and Dwayne Johnson announced his return to his role shortly after. Michael Cera, Nick Offerman, Stephanie Beatriz, Jenny Slate, Fred Armisen, Dave Franco and the rest of the cast will be announced in May 2022.

Release
Lego Dimensions debuted at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on August 14, 2022, followed by a premiere on Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles in August 21. The film was released in the United States on September 2. The film was originally scheduled for general release on May 27, 2022 due to the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic it was delayed to its current date.

The film was released on digital download on December 12, 2022, and was released on Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray 3D, 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, and DVD on March 3, 2023 in various international markets. As of August 20, 2023, it has made $28.1 million in DVD sales and $41.5 million in Blu-ray sales.

Box Office
Lego Dimensions was a box office success, it earned $369.5 in the United States and Canada and $704.2 million in other territories for a worlwide total of $1.073 million. On October 29, the film crossed the $1 billion mark, becoming the fourth of 2022 to do so. It was the 5th-hightest-grossing film of 2022, the highest-grossing animated film of 2022 and the 7th-highest-grossing animated film of all time. Deadline Hollywood estimated the film's net profit at $307.1 million, taking into account production, marketing, and talent involvement budgets; The box office gross and home media receipts put it second on their 2022 "Most Valuable Blockbusters" list, finishing as the highest ranking animated film.

United States and Canada
In United States and Canada, the film was released on September 2, 2022 along with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honk_for_Jesus._Save_Your_Soul ''Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul'',] over Labor Day weekend. The film was initially projected to debut between $65-80 million in 4019 theaters (including 200 IMAX screens). After earning $43 million on first day (including $15.1 million in Thursday previews, a record for a September release), opening week projections increased to $95-120 million. It ended up debuting to $119.1 million, surpassing the opening of Lego Batman in 2017 ($81.4 million), to become the highest opening and the first to open over $100 million for the franchise. The film also had the best opening of the pandemic era for a children's film, surpassing Lightyear's $91 million, the first to cross the $100 million mark, and the second-best opening for a September film. Deadline attributed the increase to positive audience reaction to the film and most of its predecessors, its critical reception, good word of mouth, and family demographics, even with the factors present from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Opening weekend viewing was evenly split between men and women over, with 55% men and 45% women, 55% families, 25% couples and 20% teens.

It set the record for the second-biggest weekend in September with $108.7 million a small drop of 8%. It also set records for the highest September day gross through Thursday. Although it remained at the top of the box office for four consecutive weekends, the film suffered massive drops from its third weekend despite having no real competition at the box office. In its third weekend, the film fell by 67.3%, in the fourth by 84.5% and in the fifth by 58.4%. Most media outlets stated that "the domestic legs on this one are proving quite short." attributing this to the massive anticipation that swept the audience through the opening weeks, the release date and the very nature of the market during the fall season; although he said word of mouth for the film was still exceptionally strong. Lego Dimensions completed its theatrical run in the United States and Canada on January 2, 2023.

Other territories
In other territories, the film was released in 11 markets on August 31, 2022, and grossed $15.1 million. It opened to more markets from September 1, earning $58.7 million from 39 countries. As of Sunday, September 4, it had a long opening weekend with a total of $117.2 million of which $52.1 million came from China. The film held the top spot at the box office for four consecutive weekends and was in the top three for 10 weeks. Was a huge box office success in China. It opened there on September 2 and set an opening week record for a foreign animated film with $69.2 million. By its second weekend, it had already passed the $170 million mark; The film's widespread success in the second week was attributed to its proximity to the Mid-Autumn Festival and became the highest-grossing foreign animated film of all time in the country, surprassing Zootopia (2016). In total earnings, the largest countries outside the US and Canada are China ($281.1 million), Japan ($70 million), the United Kingdom ($58 million), Mexico ($40.7 million), Brazil ($39 .6 million) and Germany ($38.1 million).

Critical response
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, reported an approval rating of 90%, with an average score of 8.10/10, based on 392 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "An astonishing, action-packed, moving, humorous and energetic reunion, Lego Dimensions proves the gold standard of Lego movies." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 87 out of 100 based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an "A" grade on a scale of "A+ to F".

Alex Welch of IGN gave the film a score of nine out of ten and said, "Although it seems basic, Lego Dimensions enriches everything we know about this franchise and enchants anyone, moving adults and children alike." For the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper gave it 3.5 stars out of 4, commenting that "the only problems are mainly the structure. Other than that, Lego Dimensions demonstrates a strong story that is not only moving, entertaining, and epic; it puts you to think about any relationship you have.'" Sandy Schaefer for Screen Rant gives the film four stars out of five saying, "Lego Dimensions strives to deliver some insanely well-written entertainment." Alonso Duralde of TheWrap gave the film a mixed review, saying, "Although the film has many story flaws, none of that will matter as long as the story remains sustainable and talk about these funny (or obnoxious) talking Lego blocks. ". The script writing, plot, and theme were sources of praise. Scott Mendelson of Forbes thought its storytelling qualities provided a way of seeing that had never been seen in the Lego movies. There was also praise for the voice acting, highlighting Chris Pratt, Elijah Wood and Elizabeth Banks.

Accolades
At the annual Golden Globe Awards, it won the award for Best Animated Feature Film. It was also nominated for the British Academy Film Awards. It was named one of the top ten films of 2022 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute.

Possible sequel
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have expressed interest in a follow-up, stating that: "There were a lot of ideas that they would use that could [be used]... in a potential sequel."