Everything was not awesome for The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part this weekend.
The animated sequel from Warner Bros. took in $34.4 million in its opening weekend, falling significantly short of the first film's $69 million debut in 2014 and The Lego Batman Movie's $53 million debut in 2017, per Box Office Mojo. It did, however, surpass The Lego Ninjago Movie's $20 million opening. But The Second Part was expected to make as much as $55 million this weekend, as reported by Variety last month.
With an 84 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, reviews don't explain the film falling short of expectations. But this could be a classic example of oversaturation, with Warner Bros. releasing four Lego movies since 2014 without letting audiences grow hungry for more. There's also the fact that the most recent Lego movie prior to The Second Part, The Lego Ninjago Movie, was poorly received by critics and fans alike and may have depressed turnout.
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Variety reports that the audience for The Second Part was on average younger than that of the original, so it seems the sequel hasn't been able to generate the same excitement from adults as its predecessor.
It's possible that positive word of mouth will help give the film a boost in the coming weeks, but one problem for Warner Bros. is that it will soon have some competition from another animated sequel, DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which will target the same audience as The Second Part and hits theaters on Feb. 22.
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