The Lego Ninjago Movie is a 2017 animated martial arts comedy film,[10][7] based on the toy/kit line of the same name and the TV show starring the same characters.
A young boy meets the mysterious owner of a relic shop, Mr. Liu, who tells him the story of Ninjago, a city within the LEGO universe.
Lloyd is frustrated to learn his element is "green" while Kai has fire, Cole has earth, Jay has lightning, Zane has ice, and Nya has water.
As Garmadon gloats, Lloyd returns with the Ultimate Weapon and fires it, only to discover it is actually a laser pointer that attracts a live-action cat named Meowthra.
As they fall off a cliff, Wu saves them with the ninja's flying ship, the Destiny's Bounty, and they head back to Ninjago City.
As Mr. Liu finishes his story about Ninjago, he informs the boy that he has the potential to be a great ninja warrior and tells him that they will start training at dawn.
The Hageman Brothers, who wrote the Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu show and co-wrote the story of The Lego Movie, would write the adaptation.
[15] Charlie Bean was announced as director, and The Lego Movie team of Dan Lin, Roy Lee, and Phil Lord and Chris Miller as producers.
[15] On 27 June 2016, the film's voice cast was announced, including Dave Franco, Michael Peña, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Woods, Fred Armisen, Jackie Chan, and Abbi Jacobson.
[16][17][18] Jackie Chan choreographed all of Master Wu's fight scenes in live action before they were recreated in animation for the film.
[32][33][34] Based on The Lego Ninjago Movie, it was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, alongside the film, in North America on 22 September 2017, and worldwide on 20 October 2017.
[citation needed] In North America, the film was released alongside Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Friend Request.
It ended up debuting to $21.2 million, finishing third at the box office below It and Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and ranking as the lowest opening of the Lego franchise by over 50%.
The site's critical consensus reads, "Despite ample charm and a few solid gags, The Lego Ninjago Movie suggests this franchise's formula isn't clicking like it used to.
[8] Andrew Barker of Variety wrote: "Plenty entertaining and occasionally very funny, Ninjago nonetheless displays symptoms of diminishing returns, and Lego might want to shuffle its pieces a bit before building yet another film with this same model.
"[41] Robbie Collin of Daily Telegraph gave it a 2 out of 5 rating, describing it as "a sad turn-up for a franchise which has already proven dazzlingly adept at staging Michael Bay-style madcap spectacle on a toy-box scale.
"[42] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a 2 out of 4 scoring, saying, "Despite comically inspired vocal performances from Justin Theroux and Dave Franco as nutjob Lego versions of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, the action and jokes pile up with exhausting repetitiveness.
"[43] On 31 October 2024, Deadline Hollywood reported that a live-action Ninjago film from Universal Pictures is in development, with Dan and Kevin Hageman attached to pen the script.