The LEGO Movie

Weekend Report: Everything Is Awesome For 'The LEGO Movie'

Thanks to its strong brand and broadly-appealing marketing, The LEGO Movie stacked up one of the highest openings ever for an original animated movie this weekend. The Monuments Men also had a solid debut, while Vampire Academy was the latest young-adult debacle.

The LEGO Movie took first place with $69.05 million, which ranks second all-time in the month of February behind The Passion of the Christ ($83.8 million). That fantastic debut is among the best-ever for an "original" (i.e. not a sequel or prequel) animated movie ever along with Up ($68.1 million), Dr. Seuss' The Lorax ($70.2 million) and The Incredibles ($70.5 million). For reference, the current record-holder is The Simpsons Movie with $74 million.

The LEGO Movie's success can be attributed to a handful of factors. The brand itself is remarkably strong: most people have some experience with the tiny building blocks, and that experience is generally positive. Warner Bros. built on this brand recognition with a marketing campaign that had something for everyone. In particular, the pop culture references and self-aware humor—plenty of which came from Lego Batman—helped lure in adults, which is the key to success with animated movies (after all, they're the ones paying for it). To that end, it didn't hurt that The LEGO Movie received nearly unanimous praise from critics (95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes).

It's also worth noting the significance of The LEGO Movie's release date. For whatever reason, studios have historically avoided releasing major family movies in February. LEGO's success is the latest evidence that a movie can work anywhere on the release schedule, so long as the competitive marketplace isn't too challenging (in this case, Frozen and The Nut Job combined for less than $11 million this weekend).

LEGO's audience was 55 percent male—high for an animated movie, but not surprising given the content—and 59 percent over the age of 18. Only 35 percent of ticket sales came from 3D showings.

Moviegoers awarded The LEGO Movie an "A" CinemaScore, which implies that it will receive strong word-of-mouth. Based on similarly-received animated movies, it's a foregone conclusion that LEGO winds up with over $200 million total.

Around-the-World Roundup

The LEGO Movie opened in 34 foreign markets this weekend and earned $18.1 million. According to Warner Bros., those markets typically represent less than one-third of international box office. Its only major territories were Mexico ($4.1 million), Spain ($2 million) and Brazil ($1.8 million). By the end of the month, the movie will have reached the U.K., France, Italy and Russia.

Source: Box Office Mojo

And to think I saw one of the most successful movies, like, ever, a week early.

^I know. Lego is really popular worldwide I believe.

I don't know about you but I'm excited about The LEGO Movie Go see it this weekend - Morgan Freeman



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The LEGO Movie - Morgan Freeman

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The LEGO Movie - Now Playing Spot 4 [HD]