Lego Studios Receives Letter from Reporter

By: Andrew Bermudez

(Lego Studios; July 21, 2010)

     Typically, the studio does not report this kind of stuff, since they get plenty of fan mail every day (there was especially an influx of hate mail when Worcester was mispronounced in Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse Fire). However, there was one letter that struck Mark Matthew as very interesting, since it was from the same reporter who said that the ending of Johnny Thunder and the Gift of the Nile was an obvious set up for another sequel. This is what the letter said:

     To the Lego Studios Board of Directors,

     As you may know, I was the reporter from ABS Daily that attended the world premiere of Johnny Thunder and the Gift of the Nile last Friday. As you may know, I called the ending an obvious set up for a potential Johnny Thunder 3, which was confirmed later that day. Even though it seems like the Johnny Thunder franchise will not be ending anytime soon, it seems like you just crank out these films. Don't get me wrong. I really do enjoy the series, it's just that the films seem to be coming out too close to one another, causing problems with budgets and quality.

     However, the issue I wanted to address here is the act of commercialization. Alas, I was appalled to find that the film was being used as a vehicle to promote security agencies, textbooks, and auto shops. But I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, the movie was built on commercialization. Here is a list I've compiled of all of the product tie-ins that were created just for the movie.

• A Very Patrick Christmas: Let's face it. This movie was created just to tell people that Johnny Thunder and the Gift of the Nile was coming. In fact, I have it on good authority that Patrick's Christmas homecoming wasn't even in the original concept; it was just going to be the newscast.
• 3 Trailers: I have nothing against movie trailers. But when you make a teaser that doesn't have footage from the movie, you seem to be acting desperately.
• Kid's Meal Toys: I knew that the Cafe Corner was going to follow the tradition of McDonald's and Burger King by giving out free toys with kid's meals. However, these new toys went a step further: they were modeled after scenes from the Johnny Thunder movies.
• Museum Exhibit: Museums are about educating people, not about telling them to go to the movies. Then again, given the educational nature of the film, this might be one of the more justifiable product tie-ins.

     Drawing from these conclusions, I can say that this franchise has become too much about merchandising and too little about the actual films. This is what I have come to say, thank you very much.

     Johnathon Rawlins

Staff Writer, ABS Daily

     The crew for the movie did not find this letter offensive in any way, but the studio's head chairman and recently-named CEO, Mark Matthew, was furious. "I think he's just overreacting," said director Steven Lawrence. "He didn't threaten us in any way. He's just making a personal statement against excessive product tie-ins. I may actually take this letter into consideration when making Johnny Thunder 3, although we are primarily here for our fans. Mr. Rawlins is certainly not one of them."

     In the meantime, Forest of Fear will probably be filmed in August, while the film may come out February 2011.