‘Piece by Piece’ Trailer: Pharrell Williams Is Turned Into a Lego Character for Animated Biopic
Pharrell Williams is revisiting the building blocks of his life — literally.
Williams’ biography is captured by Lego animation for feature film “Piece by Piece,” directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville, who also gets Lego-fied for the meta film. As do Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, and Snoop Dogg.
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Billed as an “unparalleled motion picture experience,” the animated biopic stars Williams as a Lego version of himself as he tells his own life story. Grammy-winning and Academy Award-nominated musician Williams announced the project on Instagram in January 2024, captioning, “Who would’ve thought that playing with Legos as a kid would evolve into a movie about my life. It’s proof that anyone else can do it too… #PieceByPiece.”
“Piece by Piece” has been in the works since early 2019, when Williams reached out to Neville with the concept.
“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,” Williams said. “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.”
“Piece by Piece” is documentarian Neville’s third collaboration with Focus Features after “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.” Neville has previously directed four Grammy-nominated films including “Johnny Cash’s America.” His other music docs include “Miss Americana,” “Bono and the Edge: A Sort of Homecoming,” and “Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson.” His 2014 documentary “20 Feet From Stardom” won the Oscar for Best Documentary.
Neville recently directed Apple Original films “Steve!” about comedian Steve Martin.
In an interview with Variety, Neville explained how the use of Lego is fundamental to the storytelling of “Piece by Piece.”
“I think of myself as a little bit of a method director, in that whoever I’m making a film about, I’m trying to channel them into the storytelling as much as I can,” Neville said. “Lego was Pharrell’s idea, but it’s not just a gimmick. It’s the metaphor. It’s part of the way he sees the world — which is in groundbreaking and deeply creative ways. That was something that it just gave us such license to create in the film, too.”
“Piece by Piece” is produced by Neville, Williams, Mimi Valdés, Caitrin Rogers, and Shani Saxon. Jill Wilfert and Keith Malone executive produce.
“Piece by Piece” premieres in theaters October 11. Check out the trailer below.
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