The box office numbers are in for this past weekend and The LEGO Ninjago Movie opens at $21.2 million domestically which comes in third after Kingsman: The Golden Circle and It. The industry forecasted TLNM to make between $27-35 million but it stumbled out the gates and is currently at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. The opening numbers are somewhat disappointing compared to the previous LEGO movies with The LEGO Movie opening at $69 million and The LEGO Batman Movie which opened at $53 million.
Warner Bros. had an pretty extensive marketing campaign for The LEGO Ninjago Movie which includes LEGO sets to accompany it but the movie did have more of a niche audience than the previous movies as it catered more to fans of the theme and not more of a wider audience like the other LEGO movies. As I stated in my spoiler-free review, I also felt that it wasn’t as good as TLM and TLBM but it was still decent. If you still haven’t seen it yet, I would still recommend it as it was still enjoyable but lower your expectations just a tad bit.
**Via Box Office Mojo**
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I liked it, but I knew they did not expect it to do as well, thus releasing it in September. I do not think it will derail Lego that much, and the sets seem to be selling well (especially since the prices seem better than a lot of other sets).
I suppose an important question is just how much money went into the movie for production and marketing, and how it stacks up against the profits.
I’ll just come out and say it.
The movie BOMBED, not bombed normally, but BOMBED in the USA. There were so many ads everywhere and this is all it could get up against two R-rated movies? A kids movie couldn’t do better than this?
I also don’t think it helped that LEGO Batman just came out, I would have delayed the movie until February 2018.
But honestly the movie is pretty much just an expensive add for the sets.
Assuming the movie bombs, I presume any financial damage will be to Warner Bros., not to TLG. It’s the same arrangement as Hasbro licensing “The Transformers” to Paramount, except the toys and movie bear a closer resemblance. (I should really look for the specifics of how TLG has been licensing its characters for the various video projects, starting from “Bionicle.”)
the problem with the movie was the niche audience. as each movie has progressed the target market has become smaller and smaller. Whether people would admit or not, the Ninjago series isn’t as well appealing for a broader audience as opposed to the LEGO brand in general.
They should’ve used the Ninjagos in the LEGO Movie sequel, it didn’t need a solo flick.
I personally also feel like its a little bit rushed, they could have just put this on a september 2018 releasedate so the movie would look better. I mean, when i’m watching TLM or TLBM I think ”WOW” and all that real life stuff in the movie just saves money for them but it does take that ”WOW” away (for me at least).
I also think LEGO rushed it. I also think LEGO shouldn’t have released 2 major LEGO movies out in one year, with all the sets that come along with the movies, its just too much, we have to pick how much we want to spend on which movie/sets.
Anyone else afraid it might hurt future non-licensed Lego movies?
Animation and set design was very good, the story was weak though. The writer could have done so much more, not sure why they did not use the voice talent from the TV show, and cast Jackie Chan as another Master in the Ninjago mythology, so much missed potential in this movie. At least I got tickets for a free advance showing, so no loss.
Saw the movie. It was OK. That’s how I’d expect it to do. My kids and their friends all seemed to like it, but can’t say they were blown away. Could have been funnier IMHO.