The Lego Movie 3

The Lego Movie 3 is a 2024 computer-animated adventure action comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to The Lego Movie (2014) and The Lego Movie Sequel (2017) and the seventh film in the LEGO Extended Universe. The film was directed and written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and stars Chris Pratt as Emmet and Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle/Lucy alongside Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Stephanie Beatriz, Charlie Day and Guy Pearce. Two years after the cataclysmic interdimensional events, Emmet Brickowski, Lucy and their friends must stop a new unknown hybrid threat that has no reason or conscience and will not accept any kind of peaceful dialogue.

After the release of The Lego Movie Sequel in 2017, development on a possible third film was temporarily put on hold, although the directors did make treatments for a third installment that would focus on elements such as action, as well as how to use concepts and themes based on war conflicts. Development on the film officially began in March 2021, with Animal Logic providing all animation.

The Lego Movie 3 premiered at the Regency Village Theathre on February 1, 2024, and was released in the United States on February 14, in 3D, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, IMAX 3D, and 4DX formats, as the first film in Wave Two of the LEU. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the animation, action sequences, screenplay, themes, and voice acting. The film was a box office success, grossing over $521.7 million worldwide, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2024. At the time, its opening weekend was also the sixth-highest of all time for an animated film. The film received Golden Globe for the best animated film and BAFTA nominations.

Premise
Emmet, Lucy and company living a happy new life without new adventures. But after they realize that monstrous half-animal / half-machine creatures are about to invade everything they know, the team re-unites in a action war, and this time no truce.

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.
 * Will Arnett as Batman, a DC Comics superhero who is a Master Builder.
 * Tiffany Haddish as Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi, the shape-shifting alien queen of the Systar System that was made by Emmet as a heart.
 * 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.
 * Alison Brie as Unikitty, a Master Builder who is a unicorn-horned cat.
 * Stephanie Beatriz as General Sweet Mayhem, an intergalactic mini-doll who serves as the intergalactic naval commander and law enforcer of the Systar System Armed Forces. She is the right-hand woman to Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi.
 * Charlie Day as Benny, a Master Builder who is a spaceship-obsessed 1980s spaceman.
 * Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman, a DC Comics superhero who is an ambassador of the Amazon people as well as a Master Builder.
 * Channing Tatum as Superman, a DC Comics superhero, and one of the Master Builders.
 * Jonah Hill as Green Lantern, a DC Comics superhero, and one of the Master Builders.
 * Jason Momoa as Aquaman, a DC Comics superhero who is the king of Atlantis and is also a Master Builder.
 * President Business, the former President of the Octan corporation and the Lego World, who served as the main antagonist of the first film.
 * Gandalf, a wizard from Middle-earth and a Master Builder.
 * Guy Pearce as X, the lader of the Invasion.
 * Jenny Slate as Harley Quinn, a Gotham City criminal, ex-girlfriend to The Joker and Master Builder

Development
Following the release of The Lego Movie Sequel, the expiration of the franchise's worldwide distribution agreements between Warner Bros. and The Lego Group made the timing and distribution deal for a potential third film unknown. On July 10, 2020, Warner Bros. officially announced a third film with a tentative date of 2024. Animal Logic would return to produce the film and was in talks to produce all subsequent installments.

Director Rob Schrab said he would not direct the sequel, and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were subsequently brought on as directors and writers. On April 1, 2021, February 2, 2024 was announced as the official launch date. On October 17 Lord and Miller revealed that they were heavily inspired by warfare when writing and developing the film's themes. Production began on December 4 in Canada.

Writing
Lord and Miller described the film as a "war shown in brick", they admitted that they will not be able to develop the confrontation raised in the first and second films against the DUPLO and wanted to develop that version in this film. The plot is also mainly influenced by Independence Day (1996) set on land and the reaction of the characters, rather than space or fantasy like Sequel was. The duo spent some time discussing themes, images, and ideas before starting on the script. While writing, the approach was to avoid sheer scenes, with each moment pushing other narrative points forward and resonating with viewers.

The narration begins seven years in real time from the first movie and it was wanted to allude to what happened in The Lego Dimensions Movie, although almost two years have passed after its events, to demonstrate how history and the weight of everything is recent on the characters.

Release
The Lego Movie 3 premiered on January 19, 2024 at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles and was theatrically released on February 2 in 3D, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX 3D and 4DX was the first film released in Wave Two of the LEU. The film was also screened out of competition on January 28, 2024 at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Home media
The Lego Movie 3 was released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment as a digital download on August 18, 2024. This was followed by the film's release on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, digital copy, and on-demand the two days later. It debuted at the top of the DVD and Blu-ray charts in the United States. The film has earned over $79 million in domestic media sales in the US.

Box Office
The Lego Movie 3 grossed $317.2 million in North America and $245.3 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $562.5 million, surpassing the total gross of its two predecessors. Worldwide, it became the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2024, the second-highest-grossing film in the LEGO Extended Universe, and the highest-grossing film in The Lego Movie trilogy. In its twenty-ninth day in theaters, The Lego Movie 3 became the second Warner Animation Group film to cross the $500 million mark. It became the first in The Lego Movie trilogy to cross the $500 million mark and the second LEGO-based film to do so after The Lego Dimensions Movie, and was the first animated film to reach the milestone in 2024. Part of the earlier distribution deal made between Warner Bros. Pictures and Universal Pictures, the latter received 15% of the box office gross generated by the film by lending copyright marks to its property in the film. Deadline Hollywood put the film's net profit at $301.2 million, taking into account all expenses and income from the film.

At the end of its opening day, The Lego Movie 3 earned $75.2 million, managing to be the second highest opening day in the LEU at the time of its release. It had a worldwide opening of $188.1 million, which is the sixth-biggest of all time for an animated film, and an IMAX global opening of $3.4 million. It topped the box office for two consecutive weekends and achieved a total second weekend gross of $100.1 million.

Critical response
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 91%, with an average score of 8.5/10, based on 208 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads "The Lego Movie 3 blazes a new trail for a wave of LEGO brick-based sequels. Talking about thoughtfulness and cunning, this installment is reminiscent of the wonderful first movie that came a decade earlier, and is brought to life with this fantastic box office hit". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 83 out of 100 based on 53 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an "A-" grade on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 89% overall positive score and a 79% "definite recommend".

For The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Rechtshaffen who took The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part as a disappointment in innovation and said that "after the second part had a little fresh tone, The Lego Movie as a franchise comes back ready for animated action with a script, references, and jaw-dropping inspiration in this nostalgic third installment... [which] benefits immensely from a tone that may be darker and more serious than its predecessors thanks to the emphasis on war-inspired, but blends perfectly with a tone for the smallest of the house", Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times credited Lord and Miller for the well-structured script and innovation even with a premise that may seem "vague".

Post-credits scene
Main Article: List of Post-credits Scenes