Image thanks to cogdog.

I think being a movie exec would be one of the coolest jobs in the world. You’d have the power to bring all sorts of new creative ideas to life. Unfortunately, most people in the movie business don’t seem to see it that way, and it has nothing to do with art or pushing creative boundaries. It’s mostly just about the good old dollar – that’s why they love to produce sequels, remakes, and other things that take almost no creative brainpower whatsoever. They’ve got built-in audiences! So much less work to do! So much more money to make!

Right after sequels and remakes comes movies based on toys or childhood cartoons brought to life. Again, built in audience factor with the addition of excellent product placement. Next up: Legos, the movie!

Movies based on toys couldn’t be hotter in Hollywood, with nearly every studio adapting playthings for the bigscreen. Now count Warner Bros. as one of those studios: WB is toying with plans to develop a movie around Lego and its popular building blocks. Scribes Dan and Kevin Hageman are penning the script for the family comedy that will mix live action and animation. Warners is keeping the plot tightly under wraps, but it’s described as an action adventure set in a Lego world.

Directors and producers in town have attempted to make a Lego movie for years, approaching the Danish toymaker with various ideas, but Lego turned down most of them because it’s highly protective of its brand. To date, Lego has made only a series of direct-to-DVD animated movies based on its Bionicle line.

But the company sparked to Lin and the Hageman brothers’ embrace of core values Lego wanted to include in a film, especially “a fun factor, creativity and that imagination has no boundaries,” Lin told Daily Variety. The film’s been in development for more than a year, with the scribes and producers making several trips to Denmark to work with Lego’s execs on the concept.

Also helping is the long relationship Warner Bros. has had with Lego over the years. Warner has licensed characters like Batman, Harry Potter and Speed Racer to Lego to integrate into playsets, and through TT Games, the videogame publisher that WB bought in 2007, has produced the popular “Lego Star Wars,” “Lego Indiana Jones,” “Lego Batman” and, soon, “Lego Rock Band” titles.

Decision to move forward with a Lego movie follows the recent success of “G.I. Joe,” which opened in the top spot at the box office over the weekend for Paramount, which also scored this summer with “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” Both pics are based on Hasbro action figures.

[From Variety]

Unfortunately this isn’t the end of it. According to Variety, toy makers Hasbro and Mattel have recently made a bunch of deals to license their toys for movie plots, including “Monopoly, Candyland, Battleship, Stretch Armstrong, View-Master, Max Steel, Hot Wheels and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.” It’s all about the “built-in recognition factor.” I.e. “We’re lazy and don’t want to deal with advertising.”

All that said, Michael K at Dlisted had a few other great ideas for toys to turn into movies, and some I’d actually like to see. He suggested Popples, Gloworms, and She-Ra. I’d also like to throw in the Wuzzles (I knew a girl in high school who looked just like Rhinokey and would make a great star – and I don’t think she’s doing anything else), Snorks, Strawberry Shortcake (my neighbor sort of looks like the Peculiar Purple Pie Man for Porcupine Creek, and I think he’s available too). And something starring that Cabbage Patch hospital I had that also served as Hello Kitty’s ER when she ate too much candy and had to get her stomach pumped. Damn, that’s a good plot right there, and it’s got bonus crossover products!