Pharrell Announces Movie About His Life Told Through Animated Legos
Pharrell Williams is about to get his very own biopic, and he’s taking a slightly different route to tell his story. Rather than attempting to find actors who could look and sound something like Pharrell, Chad Hugo, Clipse, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, and all the other figures who would necessarily play roles in that saga, Pharrell is doing the whole thing with animated Lego blocks.
According to a press release, Morgan Neville, the Oscar-winning documentarian behind films like 20 Feet From Stardom and Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, has directed the new Pharrell biopic Piece By Piece, which is set for release this fall. Pharrell and Neville are also producers on the movie, which is coming out through Focus Features. This morning, Pharrell dropped the poster art on Instagram. Pharrell already has experience in the animation world, since he did the hugely successful Despicable Me soundtracks, but this sounds weird.
In that press release, Neville says:
Five years ago, Pharrell Williams approached me with the idea of helping him tell his story through LEGO animation. It was one of those rare moments where I knew in a second that this was a journey I wanted to go on. I’m grateful to our partners at Focus Features and at the LEGO Group for their belief in our crazy mission. We assembled an incredible team of creative collaborators to help make a new type of film. I can’t wait for people to see it.
Meanwhile, Pharrell himself says:
When I had this crazy vision to tell this story through LEGO bricks, I couldn’t have imagined a better partner than Morgan. He is a legend. Grateful that Focus wanted to collaborate with us and I’m honored to share this with the world and bring people into my universe. Building with LEGO bricks encourages us to follow our imagination… Who would’ve thought that playing with these toys as a kid would evolve into a movie about my life. It’s proof that anyone else can do it too.
Anyone can be the subject of an animated Lego biopic! That means you, kids! Piece By Piece is in theaters 10/11.