TO VIEW THE SITE PLEASE ROTATE YOUR DEVICEWarner Bros. has unveiled its master plan for its upcoming Lego movies, staking out release dates for the next three movies in the franchise. The Lego Batman Movie, which, at this stage, is untitled, will be the first new Lego movie out of the gate and will open Feb. 10, 2017. The date hews closely to the Feb. 7, 2014, opening of The Lego Movie, the surprise hit that has kicked off a whole new franchise for the studio. Also in 2017, on Sept. 22, Ninjago will hit theaters. The date represents a shift for the movie, which originally was eyeing a release in fall 2016. Finally, The Lego Movie Sequel — yes, that is the title — will open May 18, 2018. The new date pushes up the movie by a week. “These three films already in the pipeline are just the beginning of a creative and diverse animation slate that will be delighting audiences for years to come,” said Dan Fellman, the studio’s domestic distribution president.
At this stage, the only competition for the Feb. 10, 2017, date is Fox’s romantic drama The Mountain Between Us, which is set to star Charlie Hunnam and Rosamund Pike. The other two dates are in the clear so far. Warners found itself with a brand new franchise after the surprisingly massive success of The Lego Movie. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the movie made $468.7 million worldwide.Who says there’s nothing to see at the movies? This weekend proved that multiple titles can perform well at the multiplex on the same weekend as “The Lego Batman Movie,” “Fifty Shades Darker,” and “John Wick: Chapter 2″ all had impressive first weekends. “The Lego Batman” movie found positive reviews leading into the weekend which led to an estimated $55.6 million, according to Exhibitor Relations, to win the weekend. Though that doesn’t come close to 2014′s “The Lego Movie” opening of $69 million, it’s still impressive for a spin-off movie of one of the popular characters from the original.
The difference between first place and second this weekend really came down to the number of screens both titles were on. “Fifty Shades Darker,” the follow-up to “Fifty Shades of Grey,” didn’t get the opening the first movie based on the E.L. James novels had ($85.1 million), but its $46.8 million take is a strong figure seeing it only had a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, the movie out-performed “The Lego Movie” on Friday ($21.5 million versus $15 million), but “Lego” having over 300 more screens has proved enough to edge out “Grey.” Coming in third is “John Wick: Chapter 2.” The Keanu Reeves R-rated action movie is proving to find audiences outside of its genre fan base, as the movie took in $30 million, more than doubling the opening weekend of the original in 2014 ($14.4 million). All three titles should have strong performances next weekend, too, as the only big competition will be the Matt Damon action/thriller, “The Great Wall.”
NOW WATCH: Everything you need to know about ‘American Gods’ — a TV show that could be bigger than ‘Game of Thrones’“The LEGO Batman Movie” is a tour de force. But if you oppose President Trump’s use of the White House as a cash machine, you need to boycott the opening weekend. If you’re upset that: a) Donald Trump is using the presidency to promote his daughter’s fashion business, b) Melania Trump admits that she intends use her role as First Lady to seek “major business opportunities.” c) Incoming Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price profited from insider medical stock deals. d) Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her extended family gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican Senators who then voted to confirm her, Then here’s the latest oligarchic outrage to really stick in your craw: Here’s future Treasury Secretary and movie mogul Steven Mnuchin (left with Lousie Linton) at the 2015 premiere of "Jupiter Ascending."
The biggest movie opening this weekend is “The LEGO Batman Movie.” And it’s executive-produced by Steve Mnuchin. Yes, the guy who is expected to be confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury on Saturday is about to have the greatest weekend since that raucous one at Bernie’s — and he can thank Donald Trump’s “billionaires only” cabinet and the movie-going public, which is expected to buy $60 million in tickets during the “LEGO Batman” opening weekend. The lines between public service and wallet padding have been blurring since even before the Clintons rented out the Lincoln Bedroom and the Bushies made Halliburton an arm of government. But Trump and his itchy Twitter finger have brought it to a new level. So if you’re upset that he’s turning the White House into a cash machine for his cronies, you have only one choice this weekend: Boycott “The LEGO Batman Movie.” President Trump has no qualms about using his office for personal gain. It pains me to write that.
After all, my review of the Will Arnett movie last week was a four-star rave. “The LEGO Batman Movie” will give parents and kids enormous pleasure this weekend and forever. But it will also make a rich man even richer — and put him further away from the Americans he will start serving once he’s sworn in. And while you’re at it, you’ll have to stop downloading other Mnuchin-produced films as “Sully,” “American Sniper,” “Black Mass,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” the original “LEGO Movie” or “Batman v. Superman” (OK, no worries there; NO ONE is paying to see that!). And you’ll have to skip dozens of future movies that Mnuchin’s company, RatPac-Dune, has in the pipeline with Warner Bros., with whom it inked a $450-million financing deal in 2013. Mnuchin’s role as movie moneyman didn't come up at his Jan. 19 confirmation hearing, which stuck mostly to his purchase — and profitable re-sale — of a failed bank during the 2008 housing crisis, and his failure to disclose $100 million in overseas investments to allegedly avoid taxes.
Tom Cruise in “Edge of Tomorrow” (left) and Tom Hardy in “Mad Max: Fury Road” — two of Steven Mnuchin’s legacy films. Mnuchin is certainly rich. But that’s no crime; pretty much all Secretaries of the Treasury have been really really rich, which suggests that the “treasury” in question isn’t the nation’s but their own. But I digress (not!). And I’m not objecting to the fact that a Hollywood executive producer will become the steward of our nation’s finances. Indeed, Mnuchin’s latest movie is about a raging, friendless, emotionally stunted, delusional vigilante who literally and figuratively has walled himself off from all the “losers” in the real world. Clearly, he’s ready to be Trump’s right hand man. Mnuchin says he’ll divest himself from RatPac-Dune once he’s confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury — but he’s still profiting from his movie business. So let’s not enrich him at this particular moment. Boycott “The LEGO Batman Movie.”