The LEGO Batman Movie: 6 Facts You Should Know
Posted by Nate Eckerson on
If you enjoyed The LEGO Movie as much as we did, you probably loved the appearance of Batman, who almost stole the show from Emmet during their quest to defeat Lord Business. There have been hints about Batman having his own spinoff film since last year. Today the first teaser trailer was released!
Fact #1: The Trailer is Awesome
Some of the plot revelations so far hint at Batman secretly being a lonely heart despite his superhero / billionaire persona, and the teaser seems to confirm it. A secret life of fighting crime while living in an echo-y batcave with hundreds of empty batsuits, a computerized voice (hello Siri!) and microwaved lobster can't produce a healthy social life. Hopefully this new adventure will bring him some friends.
Fact #2: LEGO Batman Has (Almost) Same Production Team
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who wrote and directed The LEGO Movie are returning as writers for LEGO Batman, however the movie is being directed by Chris McKay, formerly the animation director of LEGO Movie. Chris has a long history in stop motion, having directed many episodes of the Robot Chicken show (and related films) so it's safe to say that the movie is in great hands!
Fact #3: Doctor Who Rumored To Appear
Whovians may see their hero appear at some point during the film, according to a hint dropped by Rob Schrab (who was originally slated to direct the film) in this episode of Harmontown (paid content). This would not be totally surprising, given the Dr's appearance in the new LEGO Dimensions video game. Whether or not he actually appears, and how large his role will be is up for grabs!
Also expect appearances by a host of superheros and villains (pause the trailer at 1:23 for a sneak preview! Green Lantern, The Flash, Batgirl, Superman, Wonder Woman and more) and a million to-be-revealed cameos.
Fact #4: Batman is a Dark Brooding Artist
If you remember that Batman writes "real music" and is a "true artist, dark, brooding" (according to Wyldstyle), you may be interested to know that he's still creating. According to this Ask Me Anything thread with the film's writers, Batman will continue developing his character as a frustrated artist. He can beatbox. He can lay down the dope tracks. And we can't wait to hear more.
Fact #5: Is the LEGO Batman Movie LEGO or CGI?
The animation team will continue using the same CGI process developed for the first LEGO movie, crafting a meticulously detailed world from millions of digital bricks, all carefully modeled with the same wear and tear seen on real-world LEGO pieces. Additionally, we can see from the trailer that the animation is broken down to mimic the frame-by-frame appearance of the stop motion movies that brickfilmers create!
You can read the first post we made about this topic HERE.
Fact #6: Release Date?
LEGO Batman will open in U.S. theaters on February 10th, 2017. A Ninjago film opens on September 22nd, 2017, The LEGO Movie Sequel on May 18th, 2018, and a third film: Billion Brick Race is supposed to come out on May 24th, 2019. We'll keep you updated!