After its blockbuster "The LEGO Movie" in 2014, Warner Bros. is expected to release "The LEGO Ninjago" movie by September, 2017. (Photo : Stringer/Imeh Akpanudosen)
Warner Bros. hopes to ride on the success of the "The LEGO Movie" with two more LEGO spin-off movies next year: the first will be "The LEGO Batman Movie", which is expected to be released by February followed by "The LEGO Ninjago" in September. The latter will be based on the Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitsu line of toys by LEGO. Ninjago is one of the most popular line of toys by LEGO, having its own video games, comic, board games and TV series.
The characters for "The LEGO Ninjago Movie" will be the same as those that exist in the TV series. According to LEGO fan site Brickset, the "The LEGO Ninjago Movie" will include the following as voice cast members: action star Jackie Chan as Master Wu, Dave Franco as Lloyd, Michael Peña as Kai, Abbi Jacobson as Nya, Kumail Nanjiani as Jay, Zach Woods as Zane, and Fred Armisen as Cole.
The storyline of the movie is inspired by the wildly popular LEGO line of toys, Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitsu. It is about six young ninja responsible in defending their island home, called Ninjago. By night, they're skilled warriors who use their abilities and amazing fleet of vehicles to combat villains and monsters. By day, they're ordinary teens who struggle against high school, their greatest enemy.
Charlie Bean, who also directed "Tron: Uprising and Robotboy" among others, will be at the helm to direct "The LEGO Ninjago Movie", while Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman are the co-writers. Meanwhile, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who were the directors of the 2014 "The LEGO Movie", will produce the movie along with Roy Lee and Dan Lin.
Initially set for release in 2016, "The LEGO Ninjago Movie" was delayed and is expected to hit the theaters on September 22, 2017. Meanwhile, fans will have to wait longer for the true sequel of the 2014 LEGO Movie, which generated $469.2 million at the worldwide box office. It is expected to debut in 2019.
In a BBC report, Warner Bros. President of Domestic Distribution Dan Fellman said in 2015 that the three films (Batman, Ninjago and the LEGO Movie sequel) were "just the beginning of a creative and diverse animation slate that will be delighting audiences for years to come."
Click on the video below to watch the official trailer of "The LEGO Movie".
