I think WAG don't want to be too reliant on the Lego brand so mixing it up with original films and things like Smallfoot, Scooby Doo etc will help them in the long run.
I like the Lego films they've made so far and I even liked Storks but I worry if the original films like Smallfoot don't succeed and things like Ninjago, Scooby Doo etc do better business then WB/WAG might decide to concentrate on Lego and WB IPs and shelve any original animated films.
It'll be interesting how Ninjago fares since WAG's last September animated film Storks did okay but not great. I'm thinking $40-45m OW at the moment but $50m wouldn't surprise me.
I am hoping Smallfoot does better business than Storks but it's in a more crowded February compared to Lego Batman and WAG needs a successful film that isn't Lego or based on an existing WB property like Scooby Doo.
$70-80m for an animated film even if it's a spin-off is still huge. WAG aren't at WDAS, Pixar or Illumination level yet so the fact they've scored the biggest OW for one of their films is incredible and it's more than what their previous film made in its entire domestic run.
Larrikins is still up in the air so I would guess that's more likely to move plus Universal doesn't have a summer animated film now that SLOP2 has been delayed a year so it's possible they'll move it to May where the Laika film is at the moment and move the Laika film to August.
I imagine JK Rowling isn't ever likely to give the thumbs up to it. I imagine it's okay to have individual characters like Dumbledore but not spoofing Harry Potter in general.
I think $75-80m is about right for Lego Batman which is still great for an animated film in general let alone in February. I'm sure WB/WAG will be thrilled.
The budget for Lego Batman is $80m which is higher than both The Lego Movie and Storks but only $5m more than what Illumination spend on their films. I'm sure it'll be massively profitable.
I would like to see WAG have a successful original film that isn't Lego or based on an existing WB property, Storks was good but I'm hoping Smallfoot can be successful
Reel FX did the animation for the CGI Looney Tunes shorts for WB and they looked stunning. If SCOOB can capture the animation style of the TV series in CG for SCOOB then WAG might have another winner.
It's the first trailer so I imagine the visual will improve for the actual film.
Ninjago is based off a very successful Lego line and it's no surprise WB wanted to do this as a movie. Given how good The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie were, I'll give WAG the benefit of the doubt that this will turn out well
I wonder if we might see a non Lego DC animated film from WAG? There was a rumour on 4Chan about a potential animated Metal Men movie which I think would be really cool because it has less baggage compared to Batman or Superman to make any changes to suit the story and medium