The Stars Have Been Assembled for “The LEGO Ninjago Movie”
Posted by TheBrickPal,
We technically reported on the voice cast a while back. But with more names added and new storyline info, here it is officially stated:
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The main cast has been put together for “The LEGO Ninjago Movie,” a new animated adventure in Warner Bros. Pictures’ LEGO franchise. The film will star Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Fred Armisen, Abbi Jacobson, Olivia Munn, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Peña, Zach Woods, and the legendary Jackie Chan. “The LEGO Ninjago Movie” is slated to open nationwide on September 22, 2017.
In this big-screen Ninjago adventure, the battle for Ninjago City calls to action young Lloyd, aka the Green Ninja, along with his friends, who are all secret warriors and LEGO Master Builders. Led by kung fu master Wu, as wise-cracking as he is wise, they must defeat evil warlord Garmadon, the Worst Guy Ever, who also happens to be Lloyd’s dad. Pitting mech against mech and father against son, the epic showdown will test this fierce but undisciplined team of modern-day ninjas who must learn to check their egos and pull together to unleash their true power.
Jackie Chan (“Kung Fu Panda,” “The Karate Kid”) stars as Master Wu; Justin Theroux (“Magamind 2,” “The Leftovers”) is Garmadon; Dave Franco (“Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising”) plays Lloyd; and Olivia Munn (“X-Men: Apocalypse”) is Lloyd’s mom, Koko. Making up the secret ninja crew, Fred Armisen (“The Jim Gaffigan Show,” “SNL”) voices Cole; Abbi Jacobson (“Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising”) plays Nya; Kumail Nanjiani (“Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates”) is Jay; Michael Peña (“Ant-Man,” “The Martian”) is Kai; and Zach Woods (“Silicon Valley”) voices Zane.
Jill Wilfert, an executive producer on the film and Vice President of Licensing and Entertainment for LEGO Group, stated, “We are thrilled with the star-studded voice cast slated for ‘The LEGO Ninjago Movie.’ Our fans know and love Ninjago characters for their personalities and skills, so it’s only fitting that we assemble a diverse and talented cast to bring the world of Ninjago to life on the big screen.”
“The LEGO Ninjago Movie” marks the feature film directorial debut of Charlie Bean (“Tron: Uprising”). It is being produced by Dan Lin, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Roy Lee, who previously collaborated on the worldwide box-office phenomenon “The LEGO Movie,” along with Maryann Garger (“Flushed Away”). Chris McKay, Seth Grahame-Smith, Jill Wilfert, and Keith Malone are serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Hilary Winston & Bob Logan & Paul Fisher, story by Kevin Hageman & Dan Hageman and Hilary Winston & Bob Logan & Paul Fisher, based on LEGO Construction Toys.
From Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Animation Group, in association with LEGO System A/S, a Lin Pictures/Lord Miller/Vertigo Entertainment Production, “The LEGO Ninjago Movie” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
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34 comments on this article
Misako sounds nothing like Koko. I don't like it.
Personally I'm excited!!
If the movie is bad it will ruin my entire childhood. And the movie is coming out when I will be 17, so this is no small deal.
I'm not sure about having different people voice the characters than in the tv show. I feel like it will just kinda ruin ninjago for me
Wait, there's a megamind 2??
^^^ Same. Wu knows kung fu?
The tag line "Worst Guy Ever" could have been thought through a little more! Though it's interesting that this press release barely references the kids/ninjas being in 'high school' like the previous one did? Maybe it's just a safer bet to mention an 'epic battle' and be done with it. There's some great talent involved in this film, particularly Lord and Miller, and certain members of the voice cast so I think it'll turn out fine. Maybe not amazing, but fine.
...But then I've only ever watched about 2 episodes in full of the tv series so it's certainly not going to ruin memories of Ninjago from that perspective. I have a feeling I'll find it hard to see as many other adults without children at this movie though. It doesn't have the same nostalgic pulling power of TLM and TLBM.
This movie I'm afraid is going to ruin the amazing Lego theme and show called Ninjago.
:(
Guys, this is the same canon of the LEGO Movie, that didn't take itself seriously at all, this has no connection to the show, and is its own continuity.
^^^^^
Yeah. :(
The TV show was so great.
I really loved the regular cast of NINJAGO! I haven't watched it all the time, but I still think it is cool that it has been going on since 2010. Hopefully Lego still will make regular sets and shows for the theme.
Canon or not people don't like change...
I'm not happy that they set the story in the evil Garmadon days. The entire franchise has an intensely acute sense of its own timeline which it has reinforced and played off continually. In the context of a LEGO Movie-esque self-parody as ZootyCutie suggests (I believe correctly), you can bring Garmadon in for comic relief, but don't anchor the entire story around fictionalizing his past. It's too soon and he was too central to too much of the story. I feel better-established franchises like Star Wars and Super Heroes can get away with fictitious re-writes because their official stories have been over-popularized enough to warrant mockery. Ninjago, as an institution, feels too innocent to me yet.
I continue to warm to the voice cast, but still fear Jackie Chan may be the worst choice on the list.
Justin Theroux (“Magamind 2") ... what?
^It's sort of a reboot of the franchise, though branching off on its own, separate from the show's line.
I have to agree with most of the sentiments here. Admittedly I am very new to the Ninjago world. Unfortunately I only discovered this recently, and have only seen season 5 (Possession) and 6 (Skybound). I'm not sure why it took me so long to give it a chance, but now I'm regretting it! My son and I have both taken a big interest in the whole world and universe that is Ninjago, enough so that I'm scouring around town trying to find the old seasons on DVD! I really do like the show, and the story, and I hope this movie does it justice and doesn't attempt to just capitalize on the success of The Lego Movie. I'm still excited about it, but with reservations. As far as the casting goes, I guess we will see. As others have said, I feel like there are some good fits, but others I'm not quite sure of. I thought the cast of the TV show did a great job. I only hope the person voicing Jay can do his nervous screaming dialogue the same! We shall see!
P.S. Has anyone heard about a season 7 release date or any info thereof? Will there even be a season 7?
Michael pena? Yes!
This movie is gonna be nothing like the original!
"Sigh"
Why is not overlord the Big bad guy, i like sensei garmadon.
Atleast i hope Garmadon turns good at the end.
Change of voice cast is a weird and disrespectful choice towards the current cast. Big(?) names don't make good characters out of the blue.
It seems they are going to reboot/restart Ninjago with this movie and place it within the Lego Movie Universe (master builders reference).
So the animation style will also be different from the cartoon and be more like the Lego Movie.
I liked the Lego Movie, I like Ninjago. But with the mentioned story and reboot I feel they're doing very much wrong to what Ninjago has done all these years.
Lego Movie style with Ninjago characters sounds like a good mix to me. If it has the same approach as the trailers I have seen for the Lego Batman Movie then it could be a big hit. Both my son and I watch Ninjago and we like the format of the TV show, and I think from a marketing point of view it is an excellent idea to link each series to a yearly release of a new wave. My only disappointment is that the last DVD released in the UK was series 3 part 1 and no others have been sold, so my son has to live with repeats on Satellite TV. I could be wrong, but Ninjago the Movie has all the ingredients for a successful transition to the big screen, we will all have to wait to find out in 2017!
I think the new cast will be great, and does anyone even remember how Lloyd sounded? His voice was so awful! They made the right choice by having a guy play him this time instead of Jillian Michaels
I understand they are trying to reboot it, but are they really replacing Misako with Koko? It seems like they could at least keep some of the characters from the show.
@Jakob Mohler: When I read the names of the cast I quickly realized "Koko" might be a nickname/pet name for Misako. The evil Garmadon having a cutesy nickname for Misako would not just be heartwarming, but would also fit with the way the LEGO Movie and its spin-offs use lighthearted humor to offset the melodrama.
Overall, I think the decision to create a new continuity makes a lot of sense IMO, and a new cast helps convey that this is a new take on the franchise (in addition to following The LEGO Movie and The LEGO Batman Movie's formula of letting seasoned comedy actors really go wild with the characters and premise). Keeping an ongoing TV series and ongoing movie series in the same continuity is a huge hassle due to their vastly differing production schedules. You often end up with the writers struggling not to contradict, spoil, or otherwise undercut potential storylines for one series with the events of another. The Marvel Cinematic Universe only really manages it by having their TV series and movie series focus on separate main characters, with the main characters of the movies usually only appearing in the TV series as occasional guest stars.
Plus, you end up having to write every movie installment to appeal to people with wildly differing amounts of background knowledge instead of everybody starting from square one. Overall, there's a lot of reasons why the makers of multimedia franchises like Transformers and TMNT keep their movie and TV universes separate.
The story premise here sounds like a good starting point IMO. Not only was the conflict between Wu and Garmadon where the series began, but because it was told as a short TV special rather than a full season, it may not have lived up to its absolute fullest potential on TV. Furthermore, with the benefit of hindsight, Dan and Kevin Hageman have probably got several ideas of what they might do differently if they were to tell that story anew. Overall there's not too much new info here, but with the original TV writers at the helm and the great precedent The LEGO Movie demonstrated, my hopes remain high.
Really? I watched all the seasons of the show, and i love them all. And this looks HORRIBLE! The Lego Movie was amazing! the Lego Batman Movie Looks amazing too! but this? Not so much. i dont even know what to say! i watched all the seasons and became so used to them this is probably gonna be really bad IMO. and now there probably ending the TV show, and maybe make a new one based on this. i will buy all the sets, because i love ninjago, but the movie will probably be bad.
For me being a huge ninjago fan this is a disgrace to me and all other TRUE ninjago fans. I mean koko seriously! And why is it necessary to get completely new actors and actresses!! When they first saw the name i thought oh that will be cool but now not so much. I mean they are not even following the storyline! I don't know if i'm the only one who feels this way but i am pretty upset! I love lego but this was just a huge mistake!
Still not going to see it. I stand by My distaste for Ninjago.
@MBJosh04 Your not alone, my friend.
It's Misocko (sorry if spelled incorrectly), not Koko! :(
But kung fu's a Chinese martial art, and Ninjago's inspired by Japanese history and culture?
I'm worried about this movie. The Lego movie appeals to nostalgia and AFLs, the Lego Batman movie appeals to comic book fans. Ninjago has nether of these things. The theme is too new to garner a large fan base.
"Magamind 2" What the heck is that?
This sounds pretty fun. If it's anywhere near as self-aware as TLM or TLBM, I'll still watch it... seems like it's actually a parody of the early TV series, which I'm fine with. Plus I love the animation style of these movies. :)
@TheCrystalClods: I have seen no indication that the show is ending. As I mentioned, having an ongoing show and movie series share the same continuity is often more trouble than it's worth, so launching a new TV series in the same continuity as the movie would be a big risk. I don't really anticipate them doing that. If they did, and were able to conclude the current TV series in a satisfying way, I probably wouldn't mind. But it doesn't seem like a step they'd take when other merchandise-driven IPs like TMNT and Transformers have generally had more success keeping their TV and film universes separate.
@that guy from that show: Ninjago already HAS a huge fanbase, if you count kids and teenagers. It could also appeal to people who enjoyed the previous two movies and want to see more from that universe even in a less familiar context (kind of like how people who have enjoyed one or more Marvel Cinematic Universe movies might be tempted to check out MCU films and shows about characters they don't already know so well).
Furthermore, just as The LEGO Batman Movie appeals to comic book fans, the descriptions of this movie I've heard make it sound like it could strongly appeal to fans of mecha anime and martial arts movies.
Even if it doesn't do quite as well as the previous two movies, it's not a monumental risk either. The first TMNT movie came out in 1990 with just six years of comics, four years of toys, and three years of cartoons as precedent and became a box office success. By comparison, when this movie comes out, LEGO Ninjago will have had six years of massively successful toys, TV episodes, and graphic novels under its belt. I can't think of any in-house LEGO theme that would be a safer bet for its own solo theatrical film.
PicnicBasketSam Megamind 2 is not a full movie, it's just a short film. It's called Megamind the Button of Doom!
Vincent Tong will always be Kai.