Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu

Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu is a 2026 American computer-animated action-adventure fantasy film based on the animated television series of the same name, as well as its associated LEGO toy line. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures, the film is directed by Joel Crawford and Jeff Rowe, produced by Rowe, Tommy Andreasen, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dan Lin, and written by Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Brendan O’Brien, Bragi Schut, Kevin Burke, and Chris “Doc” Wyatt, and stars Jay Baruchel, Tom Holland, Miles Teller, Barry Keoghan, Millie Bobby Brown, Gary Oldman, Maya Rudolph, Jimmy Kimmel, Kevin Michael Richardson, Russell Crowe, Keegan-Michael Key, Taraji P. Henson, Sacha Baron Cohen, Christoph Waltz, and Timothée Chalamet. The film is the second theatrical film adaptation of the franchise, following 2017's The LEGO Ninjago Movie.
The film was announced at August 13, 2023, during the release of Ninjago: Dragons Rising. The film was distributed by Universal and produced by DreamWorks after the commercial failure of 2019's The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part led to Warner Bros. Pictures selling the film rights for LEGO films to Universal. The cast was publicly announced on January 14, 2025 (the 14th anniversary of the franchise), and the first trailer was unveiled at Comic-Con of that year. As opposed to the fully computer-animated style of Warner's LEGO films, this film uses a 2D/3D hybrid style akin to 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, DreamWorks' Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Rowe's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu had its world premiere at LEGOLAND California on January 7, 2026, and was theatrically released on January 14, 2026, 15 years after the release of the first Pilot episode of the original series. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised it'a animation, action sequences, humor, voice acting, characterization, and faithfulness to the source material. The film was a box office success, grossing $490 million against a $120 million budget. Multiple sequels are planned, with the first one, Ninjago: Tournament of Elements, releasing in 2030. 
== Plot ==
In the Realm of Ninjago, four young Ninja (Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane), under the  teachings of their sensei Wu, are sent on a mission to protect Lloyd Garmadon, the son of Wu’s brother Garmadon, who is prophecied to become the Green Ninja to save Ninjago from evil. On the adventure, the Ninja clash with Pythor and his villanous allies, who want to have revenge on Ninjago. 
== Cast ==
* Jay Baruchel as Kai: The leader of the Ninja and young Master of Fire.
* Tom Holland as Jay: A member of the Ninja and young Master of Lighting who is romantically interested in Nya.
* Miles Teller as Cole: A member of the Ninja and young Master of Earth who grieves his deceased mother. 
* Barry Keoghan as Zane: A Nindroid member of the Ninja and young Master of Ice who does not remember his past prior to joining the team. 
* Millie Bobby Brown as Nya: Kai’s sister and an ally of the Ninja and Jay's love interest. In the film’s post-credits scene, she is invited by Wu to join the Ninja as the Master of Water. 
* Gary Oldman as Master Wu: The ancient mentor and sensei of the Ninja and Garmadon’s brother.
** Paul Dobson voices a young Wu. Dobson previously voiced the character in the TV series. 
* Maya Rudolph as Misako: Lloyd’s mother and Wu’s friend and former love interest. 
** Olivia Munn voices a young Misako. Munn previously voiced Misako in The LEGO Ninjago Movie. 
* Jimmy Kimmel as Dareth: A self-proclaimed karate master and an ally of the Ninja who owns a dojo in Ninjago City. 
* Kevin Michael Richardson as Skales: The leader of the Hypnobrai and Pythor’s right-hand man. 
* Russell Crowe as Fenwick: The Master Writer of the Cloud Kingdom.
* Keegan-Michael Key as Samukai: The leader of the Skulkin, a legion of undead skeletons, who was previously fought by Wu and Garmadon. 
* Taraji P. Henson as Aspheera: A vengeful Hypnobrai who wants revenge on Wu for imprisoning her during his childhood. 
* Sacha Baron Cohen as Garmadon, a dark master and Wu’s brother, Misako’s husband, and Lloyd’s father, who is forced to ally with the Ninja to help train Lloyd, secretly wanting the Golden Weapons for himself, but over the course of the film bonding with the Ninja and his family again, and at the end of the film departing on his own. 
** Mark Oliver voices a young Garmadon. Oliver previously voiced the character in the TV series. 
* Christoph Waltz as Pythor, the last Anacondrai and leader of the Serpentine, who leads Skales and Aspheera and all the Serpentine clans to destroy Ninjago by seizing control of the Golden Weapons and also capturing Lloyd. 
* Timothée Chalamet as Lloyd Garmadon: The son of Garmadon and the future Green Ninja according to the First Spinjitzu Master’s Prophecy, and whom the Ninja must therefore protect from Pythor. 
Additionally, Jacob Tremblay voices Nobu, a young monk of the Cloud Kingdom who helps the Ninja, Kate McKinnon voices Gayle Gossip, an anchorwoman of NGTV News, Ben Schwartz voices her cameraman Vinny Folson, Nicolas Cantu voices Brad Tudabone, one of Lloyd’s classmates from Darkley’s Boarding School for Bad Boys, Tom Kenny and Andy Samberg voice Skulkin Warriors Kruncha and Nuckal, and Anya Taylor-Joy voices Harumi, a fan of the Ninja who loses her parents after the film's climax. Harumi is depicted in her child age before her later villanous role as in the TV series. The Ninja’s parents also appear in the film, with Laura Bailey and Troy Baker voicing Jay’s mother Edna Walker and father Ed Walker; Peter Serafinowicz and Linda Cardellini as Cole’s father Lou and deceased mother Lily; and Donald Glover and Michelle Yeoh as Kai and Nya’s father Ray and mother Maya. 
Voice actors from the TV series and The LEGO Ninjago Movie also make cameo appearances in the film, with Vincent Tong, who voices Kai in the TV series, voicing a teenage fan that Kai talks to during a fight scene, while Michael Adamthwhite and Brent Miller, who voice Jay and Zane in the series, voice Darkley classmates Craig and Michael who are captured by Jay and Zane, as well as Andrew Francis (voice of Cole in the series since 2022) voicing wood-chipper Kirby (named after Cole’s late former series voice actor Kirby Morrow) and Kelly Metzger, voice of Nya in the series, voicing the artificial intelligence that helps Nya in her technology. Jillian Michaels, Sam Vincent, and Dave Franco, who voiced Lloyd in the series from 2012 to 2017, in the series from 2018 onwards, and in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, respectively, voice teachers of Lloyd at Darkley’s, while Justin Theroux, who voiced Garmadon in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, voices Noble, Principal of Darkley’s. 
== Production ==
=== Development ===
After the failure of 2017's The LEGO Ninjago Movie, LEGO became hesitant at adaptating the Ninjago franchise on theatrical films. After the commercial failure of 2019's The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, the LEGO Movie franchise was on stake. On December 2019, Warner Bros. was announced to sell the rights to the franchise to Universal Pictures. In April 2020, it was set for a 5-year deal with Warner Bros. still owning the previous films. On March 15, 2023, during an interview, Dan Lin, producer and writer of the LEGO Movie films, commented on the possiblity of another Ninjago film, stating, "With Universal with the rights to the LEGO movies, it's up to them to decide. But the sets sell well, and the show is starting a new phase of change this year with an all-new series. So the franchise would probably not be harmed by another movie. We'll just have to wait and see though". 
On June 1, coincidentally on the day of premiere of the new Ninjago series Ninjago: Dragons Rising on Netflix, Universal released an update to their release schedule, which revealed an untitled LEGO film produced by DreamWorks Animation, with a release date of January 14, 2026. Some people theorized what the movie would be. Most people commented that it would be The LEGO Movie 3, but others noted the date as being the 15th anniversary of Ninjago. Later that month, Lin said that he was producing the film and said that it would not be The LEGO Movie 3, but rather a film based on a specific LEGO IP he won't say. By the end of the month, The Hollywood Reporter reported that DreamWorks was working on a Ninjago movie, confirming the release date of January 14, 2026.
On August 13 during an earnings report, the film was officially announced, under the title Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. It was also announced that Joel Crawford, who previously directed the DreamWorks films The Croods: A New Age (2020) and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022), would direct the film, and that Tommy Andreasen, co-creator of Ninjago, would produce the film alongside Lin, Jeff Rowe, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller (the latter two having previously worked on The LEGO Movie and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part). 
=== Writing ===
On September 2024, it was announced that the film's screenplay would be written by Brendan O'Brien, Dan Hageman, and Kevin Hageman, the latter two having previously wrote most of the TV series' seasons from 2011 up until 2019. Later that month, it was reported that the film would be itself written also by the Hageman brothers, Bragi Schut, Kevin Burke, and Chris "Doc" Wyatt, all five previously having roles in writing diverse seasons in the franchise's TV shows.
Andreasen stated that the film would not be set in the same continuity of the TV series and would instead be set in a new universe, focusing on younger versions of the Ninja in their earlier years trained by Master Wu, while having various characters, locations, backstory, lore, and references to the series. On November 2024, Crawford said about the film, "it is an exploration of the principal characters of the series in their earlier years as Ninja, how they slowly mature, and how at the end, they truly become 'Masters of Spinjitzu'". 
In an interview in December, the Hageman brothers said that they were "very grateful and happy" to return to the franchise after leaving after the show's ninth season, saying that, "there's something very unique and special about working on a Ninjago film set in a new continuity. We had a very creative opportunity there and it allowed us to take a lot of liberties we also felt when writing some of the seasons of the series. It really felt very refreshing." Also that month, Burke said on Twitter that the film would be "very vilain-filled" with multiple villains. He also later said that it would be mostly based on the show's first season, Rise of the Snakes, but that it would also have elements and characters from other seasons. 
=== Casting ===
On January 14, 2025, the film's voice cast was announced by Universal in a press release. Jay Baruchel, Tom Holland, Miles Teller, and Barry Keoghan would voice Kai, Jay, Cole and Zane respectively, Millie Bobby Brown and Gary Oldman would voice Nya and Wu, Kevin Michael Richardson, Russell Crowe, Keegan-Michael Key, Taraji P. Henson, and Christoph Waltz would voice Skales, Fenwick, Samukai, Aspheera, and Pythor, and Maya Rudolph, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Timothee Chamelet would voice Misako, Garmadon, and Lloyd Garmadon. The following day, Jimmy Kimmel confirmed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he would voice the legendary Dareth in the film. 
 
The casting of the film received mixed reviews from fans. While some liked some of the choices, such as Sacha Baron Cohen as Garmadon, others were highly critical of the main Ninja's castings, such as Holland as Jay, and thought that it would have been better had they used the original voice actors of the series or the cast of The LEGO Ninjago Movie. Vincent Tong, who voiced Kai in the series, defended the Ninja’s castings, saying that they “fit the movie they are in” and that there is “no doubt they have talent”. Variety compared the casting controversy of the film to the casting controversies with another Universal animated film, The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023). 
=== Animation ===
As with The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (both 2022), the animation style for the film is a combination between 2D and 3D environments, inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Rowe's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023), to give the film a unique feel that contrasts to that of Warner's LEGO movies. Despite the change in style, the characters are still made to look like LEGO figures, though with slight realistic touches. Due to this animation style, a lot of people compared it to the look and feel of LEGO's Monkey Kid (2019-present), a comparison which Crawford agreed on.
The action sequences for the film were choreographed and animated to fit the style of the TV series' 2019-2022 seasons, which were animated by WildBrain. Schut said that he applied his vision of the action in the film from the WildBrain seasons as well when writing it.
=== Music ===
Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent, who composed the series, returned to compose the score for this film. They described making the score for a Ninjago film "a dream come true". Kramer and Vincent incorporated a lot of the series' music and some songs into the film's soundtrack, while also making new music. Music band The Fold, who performed the series' theme song "The Weekend Whip", performed a new remix of the song for the film, titled "The Cinematic Whip". The soundtrack, titled Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), was released on January 9, 2026, 5 days prior to the film's release.
== Release ==
Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu had it's world premiere at LEGOLAND California on January 7, 2026, in a screening exclusive to LEGO VIP members. The film was theatrically released on January 14, 2026, 15 years after the release of the series' first Pilot episode, "Way of the Ninja". 
=== Marketing ===
A teaser poster for the film was released on July 10, 2025, showcasing sillhuettes of the Ninja, Wu, Nya, and Lloyd at the Monastery's rooftops. The first trailer was unveiled at Comic-Con 2025 on July 23. The trailer showcased a first look at the film's animation style, the voices of the Ninja, Wu, Samukai, and Lloyd, and brief shots related to the plot. The trailer also featured Vincent and Kramer's new rendition of the Ninjago Overture made for the film. A second trailer was released on October 14. The trailer showed a more clear look at the plot of the film, and also revealed the film's appearances of Misako, Garmadon, Aspheera, Dareth, and Fenwick. The final trailer was released on December 5, alongside the film's theatrical release poster.
As with the Ninjago franchise as a whole, LEGO made sets based on the film. 
=== Home media ===
The film was released on video-on-demand on March 2, 2026, before releasing on Blu-Ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray on April 8. A combo pack was also released on April 15, which contained this film and The LEGO Ninjago Movie. 
== Reception ==
=== Box Office ===
Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu grossed $201.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $198.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $490 million.
In the United States and Canada, Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu was projected to gross $15-30 million on its opening weekend. The film made $14.8 million on its first day, including $7.6 million from Tuesday night previews. It went on to gross a total of $42.3 million on the opening weekend, finishing first at the box office. On its second weekend, the film grew 55%, grossing $65.4 million, continuing first. On its third weekend, the film dropped 25%, grossing $49.3 million, finishing second behind newcomer The Emoji Movie 2. On its fourth weekend, the film grossed $25.7 million for a drop of 48%. 
=== Critical Response ===
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 294 critics' scores are positive, with an average rating of 8/10. The critical consencous says, "A fun, action-packed adaptation of one of LEGO's longest-running toy lines while still having a flare for newcomers, Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu delivers a spinning wild ride". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 65 reviews, indicating, "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of an "A+" (the first LEGO-related film to receive that score). 
Jake Fakewheeler from Deadline Hollywood gave a positive review, writing, "Even if you aren't a Ninjago fan, you'll find an amazing time with the movie. It boasts with amazing visuals, lovable characters, and top-tier voice performances." Fakey Strong from IGN gave the film a 8 out of 10, stating that while it "feels to be made only for the really hardcore fans of the franchise" and "suffers from a rather overstuffed plot", he concluded that "ït offers a lot of great character work and voice acting, plus great and fun action sequences that action fans will enjoy." Common Sense Media gave the film four stars out of five, saying, "Filled with lots of heart and likable characters, Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu is an amazing spin to the long-running LEGO property." 
Critics generally considered the film an improvement over the 2017 film. Chris Agar from Screen Rant said that nearly every problem with the 2017 film "is not present here", deeming more focus on the characters aside from Lloyd, more faithfullness and elements from the source material, and better humor, saying, "if you hated The LEGO Ninjago Movie, this one is a vast improvement for the show's fans". Tilda Fkviewer said that the film is "possibly the best LEGO film since the original LEGO Movie".
Converserly, Tanner Fichy gave the film a negative review, criticizing the plot, writing, "the plot is too meddled with locations, characters, and lore and backstory scenes that only the most dedicated Ninjago fan will enjoy it." He compared it to The Last Airbender (2010), a film similarily based on an action children's show, saying that it "similarily tries to cram a season of the show into a 100-minute feature, and barely succeeds."
== Franchise ==
Before the release of the film, Crawford stated that, if the film is a success, he would be interested in doing sequels, saying that there is "so many stories, characters, and seasons to adapt from the show to movie. There is a lot of potential". After the film's critical and commercial success, DreamWorks confirmed that the film would become a new franchise, with multiple sequels. The first sequel was officially announced at CinemaCon 2026, with a release date for July 5, 2030. Crawford, Rowe, Lin, and the first film's crew and voice cast returns for the sequel. In an interview, Crawfird said that he would want villains like Morro, Chen, Harumi, the Overlord, Iron Baron, and Kalmaar in future films, and also that the cast was already signed on for at least two sequels. At San Diego Comic-Con 2027, the sequel's title was officially announced as Ninjago: Tournament of Elements, based on the eponymous fourth season of the TV series. 
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