By Steven Zeitchik and Borys Kit
Warner Bros. is building a Lego movie.
The studio and producer Dan Lin have acquired theatrical rights for a motion picture centering on the timeless toy and set writers Dan and Kevin Hageman to pen the script.
The live-action/CG pic is described as a movie set in the world of Lego that plays off imagination and examines themes of creativity and teamwork in the manner of “Toy Story.” While it will have elements for children, the studio is hoping the film is a four-quadrant pic that also plays to adults.
In addition to Lin (whose credits include Guy Ritchie’s upcoming “Sherlock Holmes” at Warners), Roy Lee will produce and Stephen Gilchrist will co-produce. Jill Wilfert will oversee for Lego, and Matt Reilly is overseeing for the studio.
The Lego development project continues what has been a veritable craze for toy-based movies, a trend that flowered at the box office this weekend with the $56 million opening of “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra” and has extended into lesser-known toys like the View-Master, which is being developed as a feature under the guidance of producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci at DreamWorks.
The CAA- and Underground Management-repped Hagemans are set to adapt the ensemble monster pic “Hotel Transylvania” for Sony and are adapting the genre tale “Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom” for Warners.
Lego began in the 1940s as a toy first popular with Europeans. The company, which remains a privately controlled firm based in Billund, Denmark, has over the years maintained its core lines of building blocks even as it has expanded into robots, space stations and other theme-driven extensions.
The toy has always had a presence of sorts in and around Hollywood. A handful of direct-to-DVD CGI pics have been distributed through the home video arms of companies such as Universal and Miramax, and it has offered children’s video game tie-ins with tentpoles like “Star Wars.”
And the only Legoland in North America sits in Carlsbad, Calif., about an hour south of Los Angeles.
Warners is keen on developing live-action/CG hybrids: It’s also behind a big-screen remake of “Yogi Bear” as well as a reboot of mermaid pic “The Incredible Mr. Limpet,” with Kevin Lima attached to direct.
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Posted by: vitamins | December 15, 2009 at 11:16 PM