Much like theLEGO Batman Movie, aLEGO Star WarsMovie would be an easy way to divedeep into theStar Warslore, bring new fans into the fold, and poke fun at the franchise while still playing tribute to it. Unfortunately, common sense says there’s no way fans are getting what they want – and what the world needs.
The problem is simple:it’s a matter of who owns the rights. And the simple answer is: Not Disney. In 2020 Universal signed a five-year exclusive film partnership deal with the Lego Group, the Danish company behind the popular toy, paving the way for a new series of films. This was made possible after the Lego Group’s deal with previous partner, Warner Bros., who produced four movies (The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie, The LEGO Ninjago Movie,andThe LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part), expired.
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For Warner Bros. it made sense to let go. After thefirst LEGO movie was a smashing success, and theLEGO Batman Movie held up well as a sequel, theLEGO Ninjago Movieand theLEGO Movie 2: The Second Partsaw severely diminished returns, underperforming when compared with other Warner Bros. animated movies geared towards the same audience.
For Universal, however, it was also a no-brainer. Despite the declining box office, when Warner Bros. let the deal expire, Universal saw this new exclusive partnership as a way to inject new life into the LEGO movie brand, and their gamble might indeed pay off. Imagine aLEGO Jurassic Parkmovie, for example. It’s hard to believe fans wouldn’t jump at the chance for something like that, especially considering the favorable response to the television specialJurassic World: The Secret Exhibitand the miniseriesLego Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar.
But as far as the possibility of aLEGO Star Warsmovie, the exclusive deal makes that next to impossible – at least for the next few years. There would be, after all, no incentive for Universal to collaborate with Disney in this regard to bring aLEGO Star Warsmovie to the big screen when it has a lot of properties it can use in combination with LEGO. How doesLEGO Despicable Mesound?LEGO Kung Fu Panda?
On the surface, this shouldn’t be a big loss toStar Warsfans. The franchise has a lot of new content coming on Disney+, withanimated seriesThe Bad Batchset to premiere on May 4th, as well as theObi-Wan Kenobiseries,The Book of Boba Fett,an animated shorts story titledVisionsexpected this year, and a whole host of other series likeAndor,Ahsoka, andRangers of the New Republicexpected in the next few years, at most. But none of these projects promise the fun or the opportunity forStar Warsto make fun of itself and attract new fans that a LEGO Star Wars movie would.
Think back to LEGO Batman, for example. Batman is a pretty famous character, and most people already have an opinion about him. TheLEGO Batman Moviedidn’t attempt to run away from that. Instead, it showed that it understood what people’s expectations were, and it managed to subvert them by facing them head-on. The movie isn’t funny because it makes fun of Batman, it’s funny because Batman is in on the LEGO joke.
This could easily be achieved with theStar Warsfranchise too,as theLEGO Star Wars Holiday Specialproved. The special, which debuted around Christmas 2020, issilly, fun, and never takes itself too seriously, just whatStar Warsneeded for any content set afterThe Rise of Skywalker. There are continuity jokes aplenty,Rey, Finn, Poe and even BB-8make their expected appearances, alongside a few – or a lot of –characters that make absolutely no sense, and yet fans wanted to see. And it all works.
LEGO and Star Wars are not just a one-time partnership, either. Perusing through Disney+ will bring up a whole host ofLEGO andStar Warscollaborations, fromLEGO Star WarsDroid Tales, toLEGO Star WarsThe Resistance Rises, without forgettingLEGO Star Wars All-Stars. ALEGO Star Warsmovie would just be a continuation of this idea, that the franchise can, sometimes, also have fun at its own expense. It’s something the world needs, but also somethingStar Warscould desperately use after so many serious, controversial movies.
Whether fans liked whatThe Last Jeditried to bring to the franchise, or they lean more on the side of whatThe Rise of Skywalkerended up establishing, aLEGO Star Warsmovie would have something for everyone. It has the potential to be the kind of thing that appeals to not just existing fans, but that creates a new generation of fans ready to consume all the content the franchise has to offer.
However, it’s pretty clear that, despite how much fans might want aLEGO Star Warsmovie, it’s easier to just give it up and put this one on the list of things the world really needs but won’t get. Business is business, and this time, the business isn’t on the side of fans getting this movie.
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