Feature Film Rob Schrab Out, ‘Trolls’ Director Mike Mitchell In For ‘Lego Movie’ Sequel It’s getting hard to keep track of all of Warner Bros.’ Lego-branded movies. The Lego Batman Movie opens in U.S. theaters tomorrow, the first trailer for The Lego Ninjago Movie was just released, and now, Trolls director Mike Mitchell has signed on to direct the sequel to the film that started it all, 2014’s The Lego Movie. Mitchell becomes the movie’s second director. Rob Schrab (Community, The Sarah Silverman Program,) was the original director, but departed due to “creative differences,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, which first reported news of Mitchell’s hiring. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who wrote and directed the original Lego Movie, also wrote the first draft of the sequel, which has since been rewritten by Bojack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg, and then by Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son writer Matt Fogel. Mitchell also recently signed on to develop Puff, The Magic Dragon for Fox Animation, but it looks like he’ll be directing the Lego Movie sequel before dealing with Puff.
Besides Trolls, Mitchell’s other directing credits include Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked , Shrek Forever After, Sky High, and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. He also directed the live-action sequences in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. The sequel’s current release date is February 8, 2019, pushed back from a 2018 release.The Lego Movie is entering theaters riding a huge wave of positive critical reviews-- striking given the pervasive skepticism that has preceded its release. Producer Dan Lin talks with The Business contributor John Horn about how he pitched the movie idea to The Lego Group and once they were on board, he had to tune out the haters so they could focus on the film. John Horn of the LA Times joins Kim Masters to discuss top entertainment news stories of the week. - The Super Bowl has officially become the most watched TV show in history. Now the NFL is looking to capture even more viewers via a new deal for Thursday night games on CBS.- Rivalry between the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival has reached a new height.- The untimely death of Philip Seymour Hoffman has some in the visual effects community talking about high tech answers when tragedy strikes.
Producer Dan Lin opens up to The Business contributor John Horn about enduring the ‘haters’ and cynics who, for years, questioned his ambition to make a movie with Legos. Now, as the film opens big, he’s vindicated. Five years ago, Lin-- who produced the Sherlock Holmes movies and Terminator Salvation-- decided he wanted to make a film his young sons could see. Legos were the way. He talks about the extensive research he did on Lego culture to prepare for pitching The Lego Group in Denmark. The toy company was cautious about making a film which they felt had the potential to hurt more than help. Five years later he screened the movie for 1000 of the top brass and rank and file Lego employees and the crowd went wild. Guests:Dan Lin, Producer, 'The Lego Movie'Our monthly Activities calendar highlights classes, special events and weekend workshops from cooking to knitting, robot building to gardening. Our creative space is always attended by the trained eyes of the Au Fudge Au Pairs.
This event has passed. Slumber Movie Night- Storks Presents The Lego Movie +5:30pm From the studio that delivered THE LEGO MOVIE, comes STORKS. Flying into theaters this September 23rd, STORKS and Warner Bros. Pictures present a night of flocking fun at Au Fudge for Movie Night. The event will feature a peek at STORKS and themed goodies for each attendee. And then get ready to have an ‘awesome’ night with a showing of THE LEGO MOVIE. STORKS – In theatres September 23rdStorks deliver babies…or at least they used to. Now they deliver packages for a global internet retail giant. Junior (Andy Samberg), the company’s top delivery stork, is about to be promoted when he accidentally activates the Baby Making Machine, producing an adorable and wholly unauthorized baby girl.Desperate to deliver this bundle of trouble before the boss gets wise, Junior and his friend Tulip, the only human on Stork Mountain, race to make their first-ever baby drop – in a wild and revealing journey that could make more than one family whole and restore the storks’ true mission in the world.
THE LEGO MOVIEEmmet (Chris Pratt), an ordinary LEGO figurine who always follows the rules, is mistakenly identified as the Special — an extraordinary being and the key to saving the world. He finds himself drafted into a fellowship of strangers who are on a mission to stop an evil tyrant’s (Will Ferrell) plans to conquer the world. Unfortunately for Emmet, he is hopelessly — and hilariously — unprepared for such a task, but he’ll give it his all nonetheless.*The first 9 guests to RSVP will have their movie night admission taken care of thanks to the flock at Warner Bros. Pictures! Only 1 per person. Classes and workshops are subject to change or be cancelled. Please check our calendar for updates. Au Fudge does not offer refunds on any classes and workshops. with at least 48 hours advance notice, and save your credit for future use. Register your email address so we can let you know all the exciting news and events launching at Au Fudge! RestaurantMarketplaceActivitiesCreative SpaceOur Creative SpaceThe CommandmentsCakesContactContact UsEvent Enquiry
Email SignupBook a tableInstagramThere are parents out there who don’t know any more about LEGO than the searing pain and anger associated with stepping on a single, stray brick with bare feet. And then there are parents like me, who grew up stacking and stacking tiny rectangular plastic bricks for days until my creations came to life. One of the many reasons that Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s fantastic The LEGO Movie raked in a box office-winning $69 million during its opening weekend (on a $60 million budget, that’s a lot of gold bricks), and over $150 million to date—while also having a higher “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes (currently at 95%) than every single Best Picture Oscar nominee this year—is that they’ve made a movie that works for both of those sets of parents, and it does so in the guise of a film made bright and shiny enough to thrill any kid out there.The LEGO Movie is a film made about a toy, but it is a film with more heart and poignancy than most of the “message movies” that dominate the race for the year’s biggest cinematic prize.
Emmet & Batman in The LEGO Movie My daughter, Skylar, turned five in January and, in the past month or two, I’ve finally been able to introduce her to the wonders of playing with the interconnecting plastic bricks. She’s always been a creative kid who loved blocks and even flirted with building small houses out of Lincoln Logs, though the latter interest was short-lived. Skylar never took to the toddler-driven Duplo line of LEGO, and the “grown-up” LEGO line consisted of too many tiny pieces to safely let her play with. That is, until a few months ago when, on the precipice of her fifth birthday, I brought home a LEGO City Camper Van for us to build. She saw the moving wheels of the RV and the little red canoe on the box and immediately asked if we could assemble it.Fast forward a few weeks and, not only had I since brought home several new Disney-themed LEGO sets, but she also received the huge Cinderella’s Romantic Castle set for her birthday from her Aunt Jess and Uncle Jon.
We spent hours flipping through the blue instruction booklets, clicking piece by piece into place as we perfectly assembled little, plastic homes for Ariel, Rapunzel, and SpongeBob SquarePants. It was something we could do together, as Daddy and daughter. And it was exciting for her—but probably even more so for me. It didn’t take long for a fun father-daughter activity to turn into one of Daddy’s many obsessions.You see, I like toys. Working in the pop culture-fueled world of entertainment, TV, movies, and sports, it’s easy to fill your entire house with action figures, vinyl characters, and baubles of all different shapes and sizes. Daddy even has glass cases for his toys. I’ve placed the special, limited edition toys on the very top shelf enough times by now that Skylar knows when a special toy comes in the mail, it goes right on the “top shelf!” Unikitty, Emmet & Vitruvius in The LEGO Movie The problem is, I was already starting to instill my obsessive-compulsive tendencies and perfectionism into my daughter through our short time building LEGO sets together.“
Why did you take the roof off the RV, Skylar?”“Because they wanted to get some sun, Daddy,” she would reply.“But that’s not right, Sky,” I would say. “If they need sun, just take them out and put them in the canoe. The roof stays on.”Little did I know that I had already become the film’s villain, Lord Business, and had even considered using the “Kragle” (the name for Krazy Glue in the world of the movie) on the LEGO sets I liked the best. It took me less than a few months to become a monster. Theatrical poster for The LEGO Movie Seeing Lord and Miller’s vision of The LEGO Movie with my daughter (and wife) during its opening weekend was one of the most satisfying cinematic experiences of my life. And I’ve seen more movies than your average human being. The simple joy of sharing something that I loved so much as a child with my own child was an experience I’ll never forget, and I’m not the only one.“I was a big fan of LEGO growing up,” said Mike Maratea, a 37-year-old from New Jersey who took his 7-year-old son Kayden to see the film this weekend.
“Kayden and I have worked on many LEGO creations over the last couple of years, so we were excited to see the movie together. They did a really great job of making it fun for both parents and their kids.”I share that sentiment with Mike wholeheartedly. Skylar had been talking about seeing The LEGO Movie for weeks. We bought our tickets ahead of time and she plucked the receipt out of the printer, folded it up, and held it close.“I can’t wait to see The LEGO Movie with you, Daddy,” she said. “It’s going to be so great!”And it was great. It was a shared experience that I (and millions of other parents) will probably never forget. But it was more than that. It was also transformative for me and for my child.I immediately realized that I needed to be much less precious when it came to playing with Skylar. It was fine to follow instructions and learn how to build things the way they were intended. At her young age, those skills are essential. But it also showed me that, after following those instructions and reveling in our creation, we needed to break it up, start from scratch, and create on our own.“