Hollywood loves a biopic. If there’s one thing that’s going to get greenlit other than a superhero movie, it’s a loosely biographical film about a historical figure or artist. But Pharrell Williams, the 51-year-old pop artist and beat maker behind hit songs like “Happy” and Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” is getting his own film. It’s going to be told entirely in Lego format, and it just got its first trailer.
Piece By Piece is set to premiere on October 11, and tells the story of Williams’ life growing up and discovering his love for music, leading to his musical career in adulthood. Williams will voice himself alongside several other people in the music industry set to play themselves, including rappers like Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z, as well as pop artists Gwen Stefani and Justin Timberlake. Notably, Robin Thicke is nowhere to be seen on the cast list, so it’s unclear if the film will touch on something less savory in Williams’ career like the widely criticized sexist anthem “Blurred Lines.” But he also disavowed that song, so maybe we’re fine to not bring it up.
Usually, biopics deal with big, dramatic moments in people’s lives, so I’m a little skeptical of how a Lego-branded film might depict the actual events of the life of a man in his 50s. But at the very least, I’m down to see someone take the biopic in a different direction. Williams will also be providing new music for the movie, with some of his hits like the aforementioned “Happy” and “Get Lucky” already appearing in the first trailer. Check it out below:
Piece by Piece will be the fifth theatrical Lego movie, but will be the first handled by Universal Pictures as opposed to Warner Bros., which released The Lego Movie, its sequel, and the spin-offs based on Batman and Ninjago. The Warner Bros. movies ruled, so hopefully Piece by Piece maintains the charm and wit of those films.
