The primal emotional history that 20somethings have with Transformers toys (a residue of their post-toddler/tweener period) was a big factor in the success of the film versions. It’s not rocket science. Likewise the primal loathing felt by kids from age seven to twelve about Legos has, I would presume, also been retained. Young boys stop playing with Legos and move on to war toys when they’re five or six, and once they’ve left Legos behind they despise the younger kids who are still into them. Trust me — I’ve been there and seen how my boys’ attitudes changed, etc.

Hence, most twentysomethings have negative associations about Legos if only because most of us remember our post-toddler/tweener periods better than our toddler periods because our brains are more developed and retain more when we’re seven-and-older. Hence the Legos movie that Warner Bros. would like to make will be aimed at family crowd and this hasn’t much chance of being another Transformers/G.I. Joe. Movies based on toys are hot only if the toys are big with seven-and-older crowd.

People have already figured this out, right? Fine. I’m just underlining.

The Legos movie banner is being carried by WB executive Dan Lin. No offense but I think it’s fair to say that Lin, who has also “shepherded” Sherlock Holmes (which means he’s a total cheerleader for the obvious bullshit Indiana Jones/Crouching Tiger/Matrix/James Bond tone of that film), is a fresh incarnation of Satan. In the same way that George Lucas, Stephen Sommers, Michael Bay, the Charlie’s Angels-era McG and other directors of that stripe summon images of horns and hooves and sulfur breath. A devil in the way that William Hurt‘s news anchor character was said to be one by Albert Brooks‘ character.