The LEGO Batman Movie

In 17 days of release, The LEGO Batman Movie has made $133 million in the United States, and nearly $100 million overseas. Not too shabby; about 17 days of release, its predecessor, The LEGO Movie, had made $183 million domestically. The good, toyetic times will keep rolling with The LEGO Movie 2 which, at one point was going to be directed by Chris McKay, until he left the project to make LEGO Batman. Speaking about the project on the Shanlian on Batman podcast he revealed a little bit about what the film is going to be.

Propelled by great trailers, strong buzz, and a supremely rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, Get Out easily took the number one spot at the box office this weekend, dethroning The LEGO Batman Movie. Will the positive reaction to Get Out help it overcome the second week slump that so many horror movies suffer? We’re in uncharted waters here — critics and audiences rarely like a genre movie this much.

What do audiences want to see on President’s Day weekend? Apparently not The Great Wall, Fist Fight, and A Cure For Wellness, each of which opened to disappointing numbers. However, The LEGO Batman Movie, Fifty Shades Darker, John Wick: Chapter 2, Hidden Figures and even Split kept the box office above water, continuing to do strong business.

There’s one thought that many of us probably have while watching pop culture mashup extravaganzas The LEGO Movie and The LEGO Batman Movie: How much did they have to SPEND on all of this? Not only is it packed with classic Batman references, The LEGO Batman Movie features an even more impressive array of properties than the first in its insane latter half, which involved a lot of secrecy and a lot of lawyers. [Be warned: this post contains major SPOILERS for The LEGO Batman Movie.]

After of a month of the weekend box office being dominated by Split, the arrival of three new major releases has finally given the top 10 a thorough shake-up. As expected, The LEGO Batman Movie led the pack, with Fifty Shades Darker and John Wick: Chapter 2 following. And while each film opened strong, only two of them feel like unqualified successes.

Will Arnett’s gravelly voice has defined some of his most beloved roles: it made his bombastic doofus G.O.B. into Arrested Development’s MVP, it turned him into a worthy rival for Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock, and it perfectly suited him for the role of the Lego universe’s Caped Crusader. As the star of The Lego Batman Movie, he brings a certain actorly gravitas to every punch line, and the best part is that he can take that skill with him anywhere. Trying to quell a dispute between his kids? Batman lays down the law. And in a new segment from the BBC Radio 1 station, he puts his voice to good use once more, as a prank on an unsuspecting toy store.

The LEGO Batman Movie, now playing in theaters (and Palace Cinema LEGO sets) everywhere, works perfectly well for any audience, regardless of their familiarity with Batman, LEGO or otherwise. For viewers who do know the nearly 80-year history of its title character, however, the film is a treasure trove of references. Following his debut in the pages of 1939’s Detective Comics #27, Batman quickly became one of the most famous heroes in all of comics, and eventually spawned television shows, movies, toys, video games, and countless pieces of merchandise, almost all of which get referenced in Chris McKay’s LEGO Batman Movie in some way, shape, or form.

Batman made his first comic book appearance in 1939, but it wasn’t until 1972 that the Mego Corporation got the bright idea to mass-produce a line of toys featuring the superhero and all his gadgets, vehicles, sidekicks, and adversaries. Ever since then, the character has been a staple of the toy aisle, even during the years when his comics weren’t selling so well.

In the tradition of ScreenCrush series like You Think You Know Movies and You Think You Know TV comes a new YouTube series: Top Five! Every two weeks (or so; we’ve got a lot of other stuff going on), ScreenCrush editor and critic Matt Singer will count down a particular topic from the world of movies (and probably write these introductory posts in the third person).

It’ll be a cold day in hell when Batman joins the ranks of Arrow, Flash, Supergirl or Legends of Tomorrow on The CW, but LEGO has a way of bringing everyone together. See for yourself, as a new promo features the CW stars voicing their LEGO counterparts opposite Will Arnett’s LEGO Batman as part of a weeklong promotion.