I've still never been to Legoland. When I'd attend Comic-Con for work, my family would stay with me in the hotel, then sneak off to Legoland during the day. I can only imagine what's happened to attendance at the park since “The LEGO Movie” was released. It seems like LEGO, which was already a massive international success, kicked into an even more insane gear after the success of the movie.
Warner Bros. obviously sees it as a massive new franchise, and in addition to the sequel, which Rob Schrab is set to direct, they're making a LEGO Batman movie that Chris McKay will be directing. For those who don't know Rob Schrab, he's an absolute lunatic, and if anyone's going to be the right person to follow up the meta-movie weirdness of the first film, it's him.
And now it looks like he gets a warm-up.
“The LEGO Movie 4D: A New Adventure” will make its premiere at Legoland Florida on January 29, 2016, then also open at the California park on February 6. Schrab's writing and directing, and according to iO9, this is the synopsis for the film:
“The Lego Movie 4D: A New Adventure” follows a new journey for Emmet, Wyldstyle, Unikitty, Benny and MetalBeard after they receive a mysterious invitation leading them to a new theme park where all of the rides are based on the characters” adventures in “The LEGO Movie.” But not all is as it seems as the heroes are once again thrust into the middle of an evil secret plot, only this time, it will be up to the audience to use their Master Builder skills to help save them! Using elements such as wind, water, smoke and special lighting effects, the larger-than-life experience brings the film”s main characters, Emmet and Wyldstyle, back together with their friends for another awesome adventure.
There's also mention of a new character named Risky Business, voiced by Patton Oswalt, but there's no mention at all of Chris Pratt. They mention the character, but while the official release includes the name of the rest of the cast, Pratt's name is not used. Curious if they intentionally wrote around him because of contractual availability or cost. It would seem like Pratt is sort of essential, but he's also a movie star on the rise, busy pretty much every day of the year at this point. They may not want to burn through a contractual appearance for the theme parks if they only have a certain number of times they have already negotiated. He's definitely coming back for “The LEGO Movie Sequel,” which we won't see until 2018.
In the meantime, this is one of those movies where they use water and smoke and senates and wind, and I'm assuming they'll be seats that move in sync with whatever's happening. I think it sounds absolutely ridiculous to have the film be about the Legoland parks, and ridiculous in the way that made the Chris Miller/Phil Lord film so wildly popular. Fun ridiculous.
It's going to be interesting to see what the plot for the sequel is. It looks like Schrab's going to be up for playing with the entire idea of what a sequel is, which isn't a surprise for anyone who knows Schrab's work from “SCUD The Disposable Assassin” to his Channel 101 days to now. He's a pop culture wise-ass like his frequent collaborator and friend Dan Harmon, and I'm as curious about this theme park movie as I am about the actual feature film.
“The LEGO Batman Movie” is in theaters February 10, 2017.
“The LEGO Movie Sequel” arrives in theaters May 18, 2018.
“Ninjago” opens in theaters September 22, 2017.
That's a whooooooooooooooooooooooole lotta LEGO.