How Larry Kasanoff Changed Video Game Movies and Made the First LEGO Movie

There aren't many film producers who could say that they were involved in two sizable facets of Hollywood and entertainment well-before they became reliable tentpoles of the industry.

Producer Larry Kasanoff was at the forefront of both video game movies and LEGO movies, and those are just a couple of his achievements in his multi-decade career as a film executive. Kasanoff is probably best known for his work on a series of Mortal Kombat movies, of course based on their video game counterparts. Kasanoff also worked on Terminator 2, True Lies, and hundreds of other movies since the 1980s.

Kasanoff was kind enough to chat with me today about his career in film. In addition to Mortal Kombat, which did its part to change the perception of movies based on video games, Kasanoff also worked on the very first LEGO movie of its kind. And it's not The Lego Movie from 2014.

The movie was Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers, which was marketed as the "First LEGO movie on DVD." One of several stories Kasanoff told me over-the-phone was how LEGO was nervous about venturing into cinema for fear of failure. Kasanoff assured him that if the movie they were conceptualizing, which was already slated to go direct-to-DVD/streaming, failed, it would be a muted failure given its release avenue. If it was a success, it would allow them to go bigger and better for future films.

Low and behold, Clutch Powers was a success. There's reason to believe there would have never been a Lego Movie if not for that film.

Larry Kasanoff and I also chatted about some other projects his company Threshold Entertainment has up in the air. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic and a souring political relationship between the United States and China sunk the plans for his massive Tetris movie.

However, Threshold and Kasanoff have partnered with Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment to produce a film based on the international TV singing competition show, The X Factor. The movie would be animated and is called X Factor in the Jungle.

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Kasanoff also recently published a book, A Touch of the Madness, a book that looks to help readers visualize and innovate their own creative process, regardless of industry.

Take a listen to my interview with Larry Kasanoff below. Visit his website or Threshold Entertainment's website to learn more about him!