LEGO Friends live-action musical special coming in 2026!
Posted by CapnRex101,
In one of the most surprising announcements I can recall, a live-action LEGO Friends musical is now in development! The press release follows:
Today, the LEGO Group has announced that award-winning director and producer Kenny Ortega will serve as executive producer for its first-ever live-action television project: a LEGO Friends musical special, set in the beloved world of Heartlake City. Filming will commence in London this August, the exciting new special is set for release in 2026.
Ortega, best known for High School Musical, Descendants and Hocus Pocus, brings a rich legacy of youth-driven musical storytelling to the LEGO Friends brand. “I don’t know who’s more excited - my family or me. We are a LEGO loving household, and receiving this invitation from the LEGO Group to join them in their first live-action musical is an absolute honour. Also being able to produce alongside the wonderful team at FINAL PIXEL, leaders in virtual production has me overjoyed, and I am thrilled to have my long time creative partner, Paul Becker, alongside.”, said Ortega.
Joining Ortega to direct and choreograph is Paul Becker, acclaimed for his work on Julie and the Phantoms and The Kissing Booth.
“I couldn’t be more excited to bring this story to life through song, dance, and cutting-edge technology. We’ve got an incredible team, and we’re creating something truly special,” Becker noted.
Director Kenny Ortega
The LEGO Friends TV special promises to enchant audiences with lively musical performances and a captivating fusion of physical and digital backdrops. Produced by next generation technology specialists, Final Pixel, it will incorporate oversized LEGO elements alongside state-of-the-art LED volume technology and real-time rendering with Unreal Engine.
The special brings the vibrant aesthetic of the animated LEGO Friends series to life in a delightful cinematic experience. The storyline follows a girl who constructs a world out of LEGO bricks, only to be magically transported to Heart Lake City, a place brimming with fun, friendship, and adventure, all while exploring beloved themes from the LEGO Friends universe.
"Creating a live action interpretation of the Friends world is breaking new ground for us, so it’s very exciting. We hope fans will enjoy the experience and continue singing the songs after they’ve watched the special,” said Jill Wilfert, SVP, Global Entertainment Partners and Content at the LEGO Group. “LEGO Friends has been a significant theme for 13 years, and as we continue to develop and offer our fans new exciting experiences, this special is the perfect fit to the creative and playful LEGO Friends universe."
This is certainly a fun idea and I will be intrigued to see the result, particularly with such a highly-rated musical director involved. Of course, the real question is: will sloths be featured?
What do you think of this news? Let us know in the comments.
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64 comments on this article
whhhhhyyyyyyy
Well, this is a thing... but WHY is it a thing?
I'm not a father with a teenage dauther, bullet dodged
Chris Colfer for Ollie.
I've been thinking about watching all of Lego friends for the first time for a while. just didn't think that this would be the reason why!
I didn't think that the Friends show was that popular.
Can't wait!!!!
(waits...)
Why? Just why?
Weirdly, since the original Friends show had realistically animated designs for the characters, live-action fits this theme better than I want to admit
Live action?? I woulda thought Ninjago would have been brought to live action before lego friends would...
This news interests me more than the Ninjago movie news did. Friends characters are more human-like than Ninjago's minifigures in the first place, and having a director/choreographer with some skill and renown bodes well for it. I just hope they're able to find a way to give it the right "Lego DNA" even in live action.
That's as unexpected as exciting, i wonder how it'll turn out and looking forward to it
Sounds like a strange idea at first but with Kenny Ortega behind it, this will be amazing!! High School Musical and Julie and the Phantoms are peak musical content.
Some really weird reactions in these comments, frankly.
Not something I'd want or am interested in*, but with Ortega involved, it *will* be good for those who are.
*(I kind of rather Friends vanish so minidolls cease existing... and those great models get folded into main real Lego series with minifigs.)
Weird…
But you know what? I would gladly pay a dollar for this to be done in the same style as, say, the Starsky & Hutch, or 21 Jump Street movies.
How dare Lego produce anything that is not specifically aimed at my interests as a consumer?!?!?
/s
To the people asking "Why are they doing this?!?!"... because they think there's an audience for it, and it will ultimately lead to increased revenue for the company. My kid has pretty much aged-out of Friends, but if this happened a year or two ago, when she was binging every Disney Channel musical ever made, including 'Descendants' and 'High School Musical', she would've lost her mind over it.
Not every product is made for every consumer, y'all. Settle down.
"Today, the LEGO Group has announced... its first-ever live-action television project: a LEGO Friends musical special..."
This is Galidor erasure and I won't stand for it!
@watcher21 said:
"I'm not a father with a teenage dauther, bullet dodged"
I am. Bullet still dodged.
I was only mildly interested in this until I saw this: "The storyline follows a girl who constructs a world out of LEGO bricks, only to be magically transported to Heart Lake City..." So it's an isekai? Now I'm very interested.
@MCLegoboy said:
""Today, the LEGO Group has announced... its first-ever live-action television project: a LEGO Friends musical special..."
This is Galidor erasure and I won't stand for it!"
I also will not stand for this erasure! I may have been the one of the few kids on Earth at the right age who enjoyed it the TV series when it came out, (I would have killed for minifig scale sets!) but sweeping Galidor under the rug is a crime against history of LEGO. And as we all know, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it...
From the sounds of it, the intro and main character are the only live-action things about this. It at least seems to try and have some Lego element to it... which I kinda don't see them doing for the Ninjago project.
As a Friends fan, I'm not really interested... but I've also never liked Disney musicals (High School Musical annoyed the crap out of me), so this isn't for me anyways.
@TheOtherMike said:
"So it's an isekai? Now I'm very interested."
Aren't isekai plots widely panned by having other characters give exposition to the everyman protagonist who acts as a stand-in for the audience?
Neat!
I thought that Lego making a movie was weird, and we all know how that turned out...
The Lego Group’s first ever live action project?
The Galidor erasure is real.
Sounds fantastic! Though if there are no sloths, that will be a travesty!
I have a teenage daughter who likes musicals, but she never took to Friends. And I tried! She just always preferred regular minifigs.
Still, I bet if it reviews well she and my wife will watch it.
What have we done to deserve this!
@Murdoch17 said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
""Today, the LEGO Group has announced... its first-ever live-action television project: a LEGO Friends musical special..."
This is Galidor erasure and I won't stand for it!"
I also will not stand for this erasure! I may have been the one of the few kids on Earth at the right age who enjoyed it the TV series when it came out, (I would have killed for minifig scale sets!) but sweeping Galidor under the rug is a crime against history of LEGO. And as we all know, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it..."
To be fair, Lego wanting to forget Galidor ever happened is completely understandable.
@Norikins said:" @TheOtherMike said:"So it's an isekai? Now I'm very interested."
Aren't isekai plots widely panned by having other characters give exposition to the everyman protagonist who acts as a stand-in for the audience?"
That's the beauty of this particular isekai. The audience can be assumed to have enough familiarity with the world that the protagonist travels to, allowing the story to skip that.
@MeganL said:"Sounds fantastic! Though if there are no sloths, that will be a travesty!"
That probably won't happen, but if they also leave Churro out, then we riot. (By the way, have you seen the Churro Grumpy Cat wallpapers in the Insiders rewards store? They're free. And yes, their actual names are "Churro Grumpy Cat Digital Wallpaper. My favorite says, "You can do it. But do you really need to?)
Where’s my live action Johnny Thunder
@TheOtherMike said:
"I was only mildly interested in this until I saw this: "The storyline follows a girl who constructs a world out of LEGO bricks, only to be magically transported to Heart Lake City..." So it's an isekai? Now I'm very interested."
I will also pay a dollar if this turns out to be a horror film.
i don't quite understand wanting to make a live-action anything out of a LEGO property, but with Kenny Ortega in charge, it should at the very least be pretty fun
Um... anyone having late 90s "we-don't-know-what-to-do-so-we-try-absolutely-everything" vibes here?
*SIGH*...Is this being made by Universal?...On the 'plus side'; when this fails, HOPEFULLY it'll stop the 'Live-Action' Ninjago movie I've heard being pushed...:| No, seriously, Lego lends to animation better than live-action...the only exception I can see is true stop-motion...hmmm, maybe Lanka studios, or Wes Anderson...or BOTH...:)
@MeganL said:
"Sounds fantastic! Though if there are no sloths, that will be a travesty!"
I was going to say, unless you were involved, I unfortunately can't see them incorporating sloths ;-)
Though if they actually by some minute chance follow Brickset reviews, they might incorporate some after all. THAT would convince me that they actually have a real sense of humor (and understanding of the hard-core fanbase) and not just a cynical cash-grabby one...
"youth-driven musical storytelling" ... oh great, so we get to see live-action Friends rapping and slinging slurs at each other? Because that seems to be what most youth of today subject themselves to when they want "music".
I definitely won't watch this when it comes out (I hate musicals), but I will keep a vaguely interested eye out for news about its performance. Who knows, it could be decent. Using the Volume is an interesting choice... not much room for dance numbers inside it.
@LegoMaster2006 said:
"Live action?? I woulda thought Ninjago would have been brought to live action before lego friends would..."
@Lyichir said:
"This news interests me more than the Ninjago movie news did. "
@Nuclearxpotato said:
"From the sounds of it, the intro and main character are the only live-action things about this. It at least seems to try and have some Lego element to it... which I kinda don't see them doing for the Ninjago project."
What is all this talk about live-action Ninjago? They better not be doing something like that. That poor theme does not need another horrible mutation added to its lineage. It's not a real thing, is it? Please tell me it's not a thing.
@Atuin said:
"Um... anyone having late 90s "we-don't-know-what-to-do-so-we-try-absolutely-everything" vibes here?"
That was actually the very first thought that came to my mind when I saw the article headline.
Though in all fairness, they are now in a very different situation to the one they were in back then.
@Your_Future_President said:
"Where’s my live action Johnny Thunder"
There already is. He's called Indiana Jones ;-)
Not that I'm that interested, but I'm curious if it will have sets tied to the musical...
Not an entirely new concept. There was a live-action musical Friends show when we visited Lego land. That was popular and quite well done.
If they throw a decent budget at this, it might be quite good. Still not my kind of thing.
One giant musical advert for Lego Friends sets.
Well this was certainly unexpected.
This also reminds me that I still need to watch the episodes from this year...
@BLProductions said:
""youth-driven musical storytelling" ... oh great, so we get to see live-action Friends rapping and slinging slurs at each other? Because that seems to be what most youth of today subject themselves to when they want "music".
I definitely won't watch this when it comes out (I hate musicals), but I will keep a vaguely interested eye out for news about its performance. Who knows, it could be decent. Using the Volume is an interesting choice... not much room for dance numbers inside it.
@LegoMaster2006 said:
"Live action?? I woulda thought Ninjago would have been brought to live action before lego friends would..."
@Lyichir said:
"This news interests me more than the Ninjago movie news did. "
@Nuclearxpotato said:
"From the sounds of it, the intro and main character are the only live-action things about this. It at least seems to try and have some Lego element to it... which I kinda don't see them doing for the Ninjago project."
What is all this talk about live-action Ninjago? They better not be doing something like that. That poor theme does not need another horrible mutation added to its lineage. It's not a real thing, is it? Please tell me it's not a thing. "
Live action Ninjago is a thing, sadly. It's being worked on right now.
Why? Nobody asked for this. Nobody wants this.
@Norikins said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"So it's an isekai? Now I'm very interested."
Aren't isekai plots widely panned by having other characters give exposition to the everyman protagonist who acts as a stand-in for the audience?"
Isekai plots are widely panned for how in recent years there's been a glut of them that are all transparently copying each other's homework and some of the biggest homework being copied had specific elements that are really off-putting. I wouldn't really expect most of that to apply here. If anyone is genuinely complaining about the trope of having a newcomer protagonist to explain the setting to, they're weird.
Meanwhile: no more Monkie Kid...
A Friends-reboot without Ross, Monica, Whatsherface, So-And-So and The Other One?
Yeah, okay. Why not?
@LegoMaster2006 said:
"Live action?? I woulda thought Ninjago would have been brought to live action before lego friends would..."
It is... https://www.cbr.com/lego-ninjago-live-action-movie-everything-we-know/
@AustinPowers said:
" @MeganL said:
"Sounds fantastic! Though if there are no sloths, that will be a travesty!"
I was going to say, unless you were involved, I unfortunately can't see them incorporating sloths ;-)
Though if they actually by some minute chance follow Brickset reviews, they might incorporate some after all. THAT would convince me that they actually have a real sense of humor (and understanding of the hard-core fanbase) and not just a cynical cash-grabby one... "
Depends. If Kristen Bell ends up producing, and is made aware of the fact that LEGO sloths are a thing, it could well just be 90 minutes of teenage girls playing with sloths.
Never cared for friends lore,
but I've had an eye on the theme for the last few years for the superior city builds
(I have also become an avid reader of @MeganL 's reviews recently :D), but getting
Kenny Ortega is such an out of pocket collaboration that I'm somewhat intrigued.
I am a little disappointed by the form of release though, as this would surely have
made a fun ironic watch at the cinema...as it is, I'm not sure if I'll go out of my way to watch it,
although my afob sister seemed very excited, so time will tell...
Also, if they're pursuing more live action stuff, a LEGO City Undercover adaptation would be right up my alley (although I think it's probably too late now...)
@AustinPowers said:
" @Your_Future_President said:
"Where’s my live action Johnny Thunder"
There already is. He's called Indiana Jones ;-) "
Just because Spielberg had the idea first is no reason not to go ahead!
@TheOtherMike said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @Your_Future_President said:
"Where’s my live action Johnny Thunder"
There already is. He's called Indiana Jones ;-) "
Just because Spielberg had the idea first is no reason not to go ahead!"
Was it Spielberg, or Lucas?
@PurpleDave said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @MeganL said:
"Sounds fantastic! Though if there are no sloths, that will be a travesty!"
I was going to say, unless you were involved, I unfortunately can't see them incorporating sloths ;-)
Though if they actually by some minute chance follow Brickset reviews, they might incorporate some after all. THAT would convince me that they actually have a real sense of humor (and understanding of the hard-core fanbase) and not just a cynical cash-grabby one... "
Depends. If Kristen Bell ends up producing, and is made aware of the fact that LEGO sloths are a thing, it could well just be 90 minutes of teenage girls playing with sloths."
Nah, the llamas are really where it’s at. @AustinPowers, they are still cash-grabby, with a sense of humor. Whether it’s a good one or not is up for questioning.
Hmm live action musical. Well... that means the FRIENDS would be played by humans. So.... I don't really get where Lego comes into this???
Like consider a live action (with CGI obviously) Lego Mars Mission movie for example, how would you distinguish that from a regular sci fi movie? You wouldnt.
A musical makes even less sense.
As others have said I didnt think the show was *this* popular to warrant Lego investing in a live action musical. Does seem like just High School Musical copy paste too.
What next? Lego City the musical? That would be like paw patrol with humans. I dont get it.
And please spare us the multiple comments about "its not for you its not for AFOLs lego knows what theyre doing blahblahblah" Just because a product or idea isnt specifically targeted at you, doesn't mean you can't question the reasoning behind it.
Like Bluey obviously isnt aimed at me and I dont have much interest in the sets, however I would absolutely agree that Lego Bluey makes sense and I welcome the idea.
This worked well enough for Monster High, it has two pretty good live-action musical films. It could work for LEGO Friends.
What.
No Mia, no go-see-a.
@mikesray said:
"How dare Lego produce anything that is not specifically aimed at my interests as a consumer?!?!?
/s
Not every product is made for every consumer, y'all. Settle down. "
Well put; for this and every fandom. Folks do love to wail and gnash their teeth from time to time (all the time).
"a captivating fusion of physical and digital backdrops... it will incorporate oversized LEGO elements alongside state-of-the-art LED volume technology and real-time rendering with Unreal Engine."
I'm not expecting The Mandalorian's "the volume" background, but very curious to see what this will look like. I want oversized LEGO elements - quick, to the 3D-printer!
Well this has just ticked a whole bunch of boxes for my children
@BLProductions said:
""youth-driven musical storytelling" ... oh great, so we get to see live-action Friends rapping and slinging slurs at each other? Because that seems to be what most youth of today subject themselves to when they want "music".
I definitely won't watch this when it comes out (I hate musicals), but I will keep a vaguely interested eye out for news about its performance. Who knows, it could be decent. Using the Volume is an interesting choice... not much room for dance numbers inside it.
"
Erm....how much "youth" music have you heard?
Sabrina Carpenter & Chappell Roan not known for slinging slurs with their songs
If you can recall the HSM films, I suspect the musical numbers will be not dissimilar
Why not? Makes sense.
Will Lego now make have two Friends series with separate narrative timelines, similar to the way regular Ninjago and The LEGO Ninjago Movie were separate themes with contradictory lore?
@BrickAnomie said:
"Will Lego now make have two Friends series with separate narrative timelines, similar to the way regular Ninjago and The LEGO Ninjago Movie were separate themes with contradictory lore?"
And will the Friends-series, like the Ninjago-movie, also be hosted by an actor/martial artist who is a friend to all children? André the Giant and Captain Lou Albano are too busy being dead and Hulk Hogan turned out to be just the absolute worst role-model, but I hear John Cena's schedule has cleared up recently.