LEGO, Universal Enter Pact for Music, Films

The LEGO Group entered into new partnerships with Universal Music Group (UMG) and Universal Pictures to extend the LEGO brand across entertainment.

With UMG, a new suite of LEGO products designed to “encourage and inspire the next generation of musicians, creatives, and fans” will be released next year. The new products will merge elements of LEGO creative play with the large, cross-genre catalog of recorded music and publishing maintained by UMG.

“Music plays an integral part in every child’s life from the moment they are born and throughout their development,” says Olivier Robert-Murphy, global head of new business, Universal Music Group. “Across the decades, children have continued to explore this passion via vinyl, radio, cassette, music videos, CDs, and streaming. Now through the partnership between the LEGO Group and UMG, we will provide a new interactive way of inspiring the next generation of fans and creative visionaries.”

Following the conclusion of its deal with Warner Bros. that spawned The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, the LEGO Group inked a five-year exclusive agreement with Universal Pictures to develop, produce, and distribute theatrical releases based on LEGO intellectual property (IP).

The move comes following recent collaborations including the upcoming miniseries, LEGO Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar and products including LEGO sets based on the Fast and Furious franchise, DreamWorks Trolls World Tour, and more.

“The LEGO System in Play gives people the ability to build worlds and create stories that they carry throughout every phase of their lives,” says Donna Langley, chairman, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. “To partner with such an iconic brand that remains relevant and is constantly evolving allows for creativity in storytelling. We’re thrilled to start building out the next chapter of LEGO movies together with [LEGO Head of Entertainment] Jill [Wilfert] and the LEGO team as they continue to inspire curiosity and innovation.”

Wilfert will serve as a producer on all of the LEGO projects developed and released by Universal. Rideback’s Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich will produce alongside Wilfert on the next LEGO-inspired feature. Lin produced all previous LEGO features.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.