Full Cast and Crew Contribute to This PageVideoImageWatch the trailer for the Lego Batman movie. IT APPEARS that even a $5 million mistake wasn’t enough to make Village Roadshow reconsider its global release date for films. In 2014, Australian audiences got a cinematic release of The Lego Movie 54 days after it had screened in the US.Aussies decided they didn’t want to wait almost two months to see the film, so they turned to piracy — a common practice for most delayed content.With The Lego Movie on course to become the most pirated release of 2014, Village Roadshow chief executive Graham Burke acknowledged the costly mistake.“We estimate that (piracy of) The Lego Movie cost somewhere between $3.5 million and $5 million in sales,” he said, reportedThe Australian.“It was doubly painful because Lego was produced in Australia. Piracy not only impacts profits, but if unchecked will impede new business models and growth.”Mr Burke went on to say that Village Roadshow would make an effort to distribute all major films at the same time as the US release, in an attempt to combat rampant online piracy.
At least that’s what he said.@BrickingAround LEGO Batman will be released in Australia on 30th March, 2017.— Roadshow Films (@RoadshowFilms) December 5, 2016 This week Village Roadshow announced on Twitter that Australia would be getting Lego: Batman movie on March 30, 2017. This would be great if it wasn’t some 48 days later than the February 10 release date for the US.While a slightly shorter period, the logic behind repeating history and delaying the release is yet to be seen.Maybe Village Roadshow is just hoping really hard that Aussies will wait for the release instead of pirating the film.Unfortunately, the likelihood of this happening is slim to none..au has reached out to Village Roadshow for comment regarding the delay. has confirmed the release dates for two Lego Movie spinoff pics and the sequel to its 2014 hit. The feature has been moved up to the February 10 slot, which the studio had set aside for an untitled film. The Lego Ninjago spinoff has been moved back to September 22, 2017, domestically, with international dates to follow.
The Lego Movie Sequel will open May 18, 2018, a week earlier than originally slated. If that February date sounds familiar, that’s the weekend Warner Bros opened the first Lego Movie last year — February 7, to be exact — and scored a whopping $69M debut. It then went onto gross a domestic haul of $257.7M and another $211M internationally to bring its total worldwide cume to $468.7M. No wonder they are doing a number of spinoffs. The Lego Movie Sequel has its new weekend to itself for now. The Lego Batman flick will go up against Fox’s The Mountain Between Us, starring Charlie Hunnam and Rosamund Pike. And Ninjago‘s lone competition that weekend is an untitled Sony movie. The studio announced the sequel and spinoffs in October. “We are very excited about dating our upcoming LEGO animated features, which already have a worldwide fan following, built on the foundation of the first film,” said Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution at Warners. “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.”
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happyWarner Bros. has set the release dates for the next three “Lego” films through 2018, with the first an untitled Batman Lego movie that will bow on Feb. 10, 2017. Warners has also moved the Lego spinoff “Ninjago” from fall 2016 to Sept. 22, 2017, and dated “The Lego Movie Sequel” for May 18, 2018. “We are very excited about dating our upcoming Lego animated features, which already have a worldwide fan following, built on the foundation of the first film,” said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. “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.” Last October, Warner Bros. chairman-CEO Kevin Tsujihara unveiled a slate that included 10 DC pics, three “Harry Potter” spinoffs and a slew of “Lego” features and made it clear that these franchises would play a major role in Warner Bros.’ model for the next half decade.
“The Lego Movie,” released last year, was a hit both critically and commercially, grossing $468 million worldwide. Global LEGO® sales up 15 percent in first half of 2014 Double-digit growth across all regions delivered a turnover of 11,504m DKK in the first half of 2014 fueled by the success of The LEGO® Movie products. Key financial figures from the interim result:• Revenue in first half of 2014 increased 15 percent compared with the same period last year measured in local currency (i.e., excluding the impact of foreign exchange rate changes).• Revenue for the first half of 2014 increased by 11 percent in DKK to DKK 11,504m compared with DKK 10,408m for the same period last year. • menting on the financial result, LEGO Group President and CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp says: “Our revenue in the first half of 2014 has more than tripled compared to first half year revenue six years ago, in 2008. It is a very satisfactory result that shows our significant growth in recent years in a tough economic environment.
The result for the first half of 2014 is an outcome of our ability to develop, launch and distribute LEGO products, which children all over the world put at the top of their wish lists. We are particularly pleased that classics such as LEGO City, LEGO Creator, LEGO Technic, and LEGO Star Wars™ continue to deliver very strong growth globally.” LEGO Movie product line exceeded expectationsA significant contributor to sales growth in the first half of 2014 was The LEGO Movie product line which launched in conjunction with the release of The LEGO Movie feature film in early 2014.“We are thrilled by the reception of The LEGO Movie products that provided a significant boost to our sales during the first half of 2014,” says Executive Vice President and CFO John Goodwin, adding:“The LEGO Movie celebrated the creative potential in us all, which is also the foundation of any LEGO product we develop. Every LEGO set must offer a versatile play experience that fosters creative building, and this is what we continually strive to deliver to children all over the world.”
Strong growth in all regionsIn the first half of 2014 the LEGO Group experienced broad-based sales momentum in the regions where it operates. “Consumer sales growth in Europe, the Americas, and Asia was in the double digits, which is very satisfactory in the light of the global toy market which experienced a slow start in 2014,” says John Goodwin, adding:“It is too early to say if the strong performance will be reflected in the full year results as the majority of LEGO sales to consumers happen in the second half of the calendar year in a short time span of a few weeks leading up to the holiday season. The strong performance of The LEGO Movie products had a positive effect during the first half of 2014, and it remains to be seen how the line will continue to develop behind the highly anticipated launch of The LEGO Movie on DVD in the second half of 2014.” Global presence a successful strategyIn the Asian region, growth in LEGO sales varied from market to market. China saw the most significant growth in consumer sales in the region by more than 50%.
This supports the LEGO Group’s ambitions to further globalize the company and make Asia a significant contributor to future growth.During April 2014 two significant celebrations marked this intent; the official ground breaking of the first LEGO factory in China, located in Jiaxing; and the inauguration of a new office in Shanghai, which is one of five main offices globally for the LEGO Group.“There is a huge potential in Asia, and we are still learning and in the process of building our capabilities in the region. The factory and the office represent a significant expansion of our physical presence in the region. Alongside our other main office in Singapore, the Shanghai office and the new factory enable strategically important functions to be located close to our customers as well as children and parents in China and Asia,” says Bali Padda, executive vice president and COO.The decision to place a LEGO Factory in China is a direct consequence of the LEGO Group’s ambition to have production placed close to core markets.
“This enables us to deliver LEGO products to retailers and ultimately to children all over the world very fast, offering a world class service to our customers and consumers. This has proven to be a successful strategy for us, and by further globalizing the LEGO Group, we hope to reach even more children around the world with a creative play experience,” says Bali Padda.In the first half of 2014 other significant milestones on the LEGO Group’s journey towards that ambition were achieved.In Europe, expansions of the LEGO factory in the Czech Republic continued, while a brand new factory was inaugurated in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary in March. Alongside the LEGO factory in Denmark, these mainly supply LEGO products to children in the European markets. In Mexico, expansion of the LEGO factory in Monterrey was completed and inaugurated in June. The Mexican factory mainly supplies the American markets, and the expansion is expected to create more than 1,000 new jobs.“We have been investing and we will continue to invest significant resources in further globalizing the company, which is a precondition for our future ability to not only create great LEGO experiences for children all over the world, but also our ability to build a culturally diverse organization where we can attract and develop global talent.