When will they make a Bionicle movie?

[Alyska]

So, it seems like every toyline gets its own movie these days. Lego has already done phenomenally well with The Lego Movie, which is spawning a sequel, a Batman spin-off, as well as a Ninjago film, which may or may not take place in the same universe. So, Lego is obviously getting more confident in branching out into feature films of their most successful properties. There was talk of a Hero Factory film a couple of years ago, but it never went ahead- presumably, we would not have got our Bionicle reboot if it had.

 

Now, a Bionicle film would obviously be quite different to the other Lego movies, so the success of the others may not be quite enough to convince the studios that Bionicle could work as a film. We know that there's a lot of follow-the-leader and knock-on effects in Hollywood. What I'm wondering is whether the success of any recent or upcoming films/properties might be the tipping point that leads to a Bionicle film being greenlit.

 

The thing that got me thinking this is, of all things, an upcoming Disney Princess movie. No, no, hear me out! The film Moana is based on Polynesian mythologies, and is set to involve the heroine going on some sort of epic quest to fulfil an ancient destiny, with what looks like elemental-powered creatures and monsters along the way. The images they've released so far have amazing looking island environments that make me really wistful about how a Bionicle film could look. If it does well at the box office, I can totally see some execs going "Hey, Lego's got this thing that's like that but with robot superheroes..."

 

Thoughts? What do you think would make movie studios consider a Bionicle feature film?

[Pohatu: Uniter of Stone]

They made four.

[Alyska]

I suppose I should have clarified I was referring to a theatrical release, rather than direct-to-DVD.

[CaT in Rogue]

Man, with their track record for Bionicle movies, I'm not sure I want them making another one. On the other hand, pretty much every Lego movie before The Lego Movie sucked, so they might be able to pull it off nowadays, I don't know.

 

To answer your question, I think the main thing would be somehow proving that Bionicle has a large enough fanbase to draw in a profitable movie audience. I know most kids have probably heard of Bionicle, but I don't know how many would actually go see a movie about it.

[aldero]

If we really want to get technical, the Legend Reborn had a theatrical release in Iceland, but that's beside the point. 

 

In terms of the effectiveness of a film covering the events of a year or arc, I don't think Bionicle would necessarily succeed in that category, simply because I don't think that justice would be done to the series. I know that this happened to countless other franchises that have way more background lore beyond the synopsis of a film, often times more so than Bionicle, but an ideal scenario would see the release of a television or web series alongside the obligatory serials and books. I just have a slight feeling that a Bionicle story arc should not be confined to a three act structure. I guess the only one that would work would be an Ignition trilogy, but even then, I would still want to witness the whole tension and confrontation between Lesovikk and Karzahni, the destruction of the Shadow Leech Hive, the entire book of Swamp of Secrets and the Piraka discovering Mangaia, just to name a few. 

 

My point is that a whole year should not be confined to a single movie. On the other hand, a Reign of Shadows movie would be amazing.

[masterchirox580]

I don't think we could see such a thing until after the planned three year run. Lego only really does this for themes which run for like ten years or something so I think bionicle is gonna really need to expand before such a thing could be seen. 

[Alyska]

Planned three years, huh? Hadn't heard that before. That actually gives me some hope that they could open G3 with a feature film, if that's their plan.

[SPIRIT]

I suppose I should have clarified I was referring to a theatrical release, rather than direct-to-DVD.

 

Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of BZPower, of BS01, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same desire for a good Bionicle movie that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the series gains the nostalgic value of Transformers, when we go to the theatre with our heads held high and spend too much for popcorn, but it is not this day. An hour of A-list celebrities and red carpet premieres, when the age of obscure fandom comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we wait! By all that you hold dear on this good website, I bid you keep waiting, Bionicle fans!

Edited November 13, 2015 by SPIRIT

[Petewa]

Maybe when the twenty five-ish year nostalgia wave rolls in.

 

But then it'll be directed by that times equivalent of Michael Bay.

 

Eh, it'd be a Bonkle film.

[SynthMav]

maybe if bionicle journey to one is successful then yeah it will probably be a thing because ninjago in my opinion is more successful than chima and when the film comes out it will be 7 years old so it depends if the netflix series get enough people watching it and if it gets good reviews 

Edited November 12, 2015 by the mavrick

[Kopekemaster]

I'd guess sometime post-Journey to One. I don't feel like they'd make a movie while they're in the midst of releasing a series. (That is, if we get one at all.)

 

On a side note, that Disney movie looks kind of interesting. Assuming they don't completely mess everything up in it like nearly everything else they touch.

[Xboxtravis]

Maybe when the twenty five-ish year nostalgia wave rolls in.

 

But then it'll be directed by that times equivalent of Michael Bay.

 

Eh, it'd be a Bonkle film.

Yeah that would be my fear. A Bionicle movie being nothing more than giant robots and stuff exploding. In a sense, the 4 direct to video movies were a tad to tame to really tell the story; but a theatrical release in the hands of somebody like Bay would make a movie a bit to violent.

 

What we'd need is a good film that works to establish the characters, the lore, and then kicks the action into high gear. Think more "Avengers" and less "Fantastic 4 reboot." We need to learn to like and identify with all six Toa before the action starts

 

Oh, and it needs to be well done so adults and critics like it, instead of deriding it as a 2 hour long Toy commercial

Edited November 12, 2015 by Xboxtravis

[Evergrey: Toa of Music]

The answer is not soon enough...

[Aanchir]

I have a feeling it might be a while. Ninjago is getting a movie, but Ninjago is ridiculously popular. "When Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu launched in January 2011, it set new financial and innovation records for LEGO. The LEGO Group reported a 20 percent increase in sales in the first quarter of 2011, largely due to the overwhelming popularity of the Ninjago line, which went on to rack up the highest single-year sales of any LEGO-invented theme in the company's history." (Brick by Brick, p265). Its Google search interest regularly exceeds both LEGO City and LEGO Star Wars (in fact, at its peak in December 2012, it generated more search interest than those two themes combined).

 

But you're right that movie studios might consider the possibility of a theatrical Bionicle film provided that both the upcoming LEGO spin-off films and the upcoming LEGO Bionicle Netflix series prove successful. Bionicle has both a lot of nostalgic appeal (something Hollywood seems to love) and a very clear storytelling foundation. Still, I think it's probably safe to assume the Bionicle theme's popularity today is still far below its peak in 2002–2003, and it might take some real growth before the LEGO Group and filmmakers are willing to give a Bionicle theatrical film a shot.

Also can we please stop talking about the Hero Factory feature film as if that was ever likely to happen? The only news we EVER got on that front was a vague article about Universal being "in talks" to develop a Hero Factory live-action movie. From the start, the pitch sounded like a fairly blatant attempt by Universal to create their own answer to Paramount's Transformers film franchise, and we never saw any indication that the LEGO Group was remotely interested in the concept. From my understanding, there were lots of similar pitches for Bionicle movies back in Generation One, and LEGO turned them down not because the theme wasn't popular enough to support them, but because the pitches went against the LEGO Group's vision for the brand (for instance, introducing human kids from our world as the main characters).

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Also can we please stop talking about the Hero Factory feature film as if that was ever likely to happen? The only news we EVER got on that front was a vague article about Universal being "in talks" to develop a Hero Factory live-action movie. From the start, the pitch sounded like a fairly blatant attempt by Universal to create their own answer to Paramount's Transformers film franchise, and we never saw any indication that the LEGO Group was remotely interested in the concept. From my understanding, there were lots of similar pitches for Bionicle movies back in Generation One, and LEGO turned them down not because the theme wasn't popular enough to support them, but because the pitches went against the LEGO Group's vision for the brand (for instance, introducing human kids from our world as the main characters).

Never knew about the additional info surrounding the supposed Hero Factory movie. All I ever heard was one mention of talks about it, and then the subject never popped up again outside of rampant fan speculation. Thanks for the added info.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Sir Iaredios

[Shadow Destroyer]

I wouldn't mind having a movie wrap up Journey to One, similar to what Rise of the Predacons did to Transformers Prime. It would technically be a followup from the show, but would still be able to draw in new viewers.

[RahiSpeak]

As far as a movie based on Gen1 BIONICLE goes, it is extremely unlikely that LEGO would initiate or even give support to such a project. That is, The LEGO Group probably would not invest in a movie that would not boost sales (they don't exactly sell Gen1 sets anymore).

 

Now, we all like BIONICLE -- at least in part -- because of the story, so it stands to reason that someone in Hollywood would think the same. Perhaps "BIONICLE: The Movie" is going to be anounced tomorrow, or maybe not. What we have to keep in mind is that in order for Hollywood to be wowed by the story, they first have to read the story. If there were a bunch of directors/producers wasting their time each day scrolling through internet forums and wikis devoted to BIONICLE, we'd probably have a movie by now. Too bad there are currently no movie-makers on BZPower

[Tahu3.0]

Bionicle movie in a theater that AMAZING if that would happen but at least we have in the Lego Movie that cameo.

[Alyska]

On a side note, that Disney movie looks kind of interesting. Assuming they don't completely mess everything up in it like nearly everything else they touch.

 

I can't help thinking of the main character as "Disney Princess Macku." Then again, I'm the sort of person who thinks of Elsa as Disney Princess Kopaka, so it's possible that I'm weird. I do hope it's a bit more sensitive towards the Polynesian cultures it's based on than Bionicle was, though.

[LewaLew]

Always in motion the future is. It all depends on BIONICLE's success in this new generation. As Aanchir mentioned, Ninjago has exceeded the standard set by BIONICLE for in-house themes, which is why it's getting a theatrical movie instead of a direct-to-DVD one like BIONICLE always got.

[aldero]

But you're right that movie studios might consider the possibility of a theatrical Bionicle film provided that both the upcoming LEGO spin-off films and the upcoming LEGO Bionicle Netflix series prove successful. Bionicle has both a lot of nostalgic appeal (something Hollywood seems to love) and a very clear storytelling foundation. Still, I think it's probably safe to assume the Bionicle theme's popularity today is still far below its peak in 2002–2003, and it might take some real growth before the LEGO Group and filmmakers are willing to give a Bionicle theatrical film a shot.

 

That's a good point about nostalgia actually. If you're at all informed about theatre's latest trends, you'll know nostalgia has run rampant. The 90's have recently started leaking back into our culture once all of the 20-30 year olds started longing to return to a simpler time of Transformers cartoons and Poptarts. Twenty-or-so years later, we have utterly terrible Transformers movies and... yeah... Poptarts are still around. With that in mind, I'd predict a rapid resurgence in Bionicle's popularity in ten or so years once all of the millennials have grown up and have gone through the same nostalgic phase in their adulthood. 

 

But that's just regarding the factor of nostalgia. If Journey to One becomes as popular as we all want it to be, then LEGO would be out of their minds not to capitalise on this.

[Erasmus Graves]

Maybe... one day.

G-Somethingotherthanone, probably. It's sad, really, because LEGO is a corporate company, and profit is the biggest thing on its mind. The Lego Movie, as fun as it was, was really just the longest commercial ever. Because... EVERYTHING'S A PRODUCT! ALL LICENSED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY!

G1 ain't makin' no profits anymore except on the movies, and then only small-time (unless they re-release the DVDs with even more Special Features than before), so unless it has a Transformers style reboot, we're unlikely ever to see a movie.

It's early days yet, but from what I've seen, G2's story just isn't as good as G1's. Go figure which would make the better movie. Still, we can hope. If a movie of G1 got made, and all the marketing and red carpet premieres were being wheeled out, LEGO would probably re-release the old sets, make a couple of new ones (stuff like a proper one for Turaga Dume, another Teridax, official sets for the combiners, etc.) and just do it.

And maybe they'd bring back BIONICLEstory and get Greg to finish the saga off, with a bunch of more books to go as well.

It's probably never gonna happen but there's no reason to give up hope...

[Alyska]

Interesting that a lot of people interpret the idea as being based on G1- though it is definitely open to that interpretation. I actually think the most likely scenario would be a release of a new continuity beginning 5 or so years from now, starting its first year with a movie. It'd be nice if it had some recognisable ties to previous gens, but I think it makes the most sense to kick the movie's story off on a blank slate.

[Xboxtravis]

Yeah a new movie could be Gen 3, based on the Gen 1 story with visual G2 design elements. Actually wouldn't be that bad of an idea...

[tophat+hordika=hatdika]

So, it seems like every toyline gets its own movie these days. Lego has already done phenomenally well with The Lego Movie, which is spawning a sequel, a Batman spin-off, as well as a Ninjago film, which may or may not take place in the same universe. So, Lego is obviously getting more confident in branching out into feature films of their most successful properties. There was talk of a Hero Factory film a couple of years ago, but it never went ahead- presumably, we would not have got our Bionicle reboot if it had.

 

Now, a Bionicle film would obviously be quite different to the other Lego movies, so the success of the others may not be quite enough to convince the studios that Bionicle could work as a film. We know that there's a lot of follow-the-leader and knock-on effects in Hollywood. What I'm wondering is whether the success of any recent or upcoming films/properties might be the tipping point that leads to a Bionicle film being greenlit.

 

The thing that got me thinking this is, of all things, an upcoming Disney Princess movie. No, no, hear me out! The film Moana is based on Polynesian mythologies, and is set to involve the heroine going on some sort of epic quest to fulfil an ancient destiny, with what looks like elemental-powered creatures and monsters along the way. The images they've released so far have amazing looking island environments that make me really wistful about how a Bionicle film could look. If it does well at the box office, I can totally see some execs going "Hey, Lego's got this thing that's like that but with robot superheroes..."

 

Thoughts? What do you think would make movie studios consider a Bionicle feature film?

ill give it a couple years for the world to get used to bioncle