Morgan Freeman lost it while voicing the role of Vitruvius during the filming of the 2014 Will Arnett-Will Ferrell comedy, The Lego Movie. The actor’s outtake was so funny and in-character that it made the final cut of the movie.
In the 2014 movie, when Chris Pratt’s Emmet Brickowski meets the council of Masterbuilders, Vitruvius meets Emmet and gives him some sage words. An elderly-like master builder, Vitruvius tells Emmet to “write all that down ’cause I’m not gonna remember any of it, but here we go”.
This was an outtake done by Morgan Freeman because he got frustrated about the constantly changing lines. The director liked it so much that he kept the line as an inside joke in the movie.
In 'The Lego Movie' Vitruvius says “All right, you gotta write all that down ’cause I’m not gonna remember any of it, but here we go”
This was an outtake of Morgan Freeman getting frustrated at his lines being changed. The directors added it in as a jokepic.twitter.com/zdcT4UjhF0
— Film Easter Eggs & Details (@FilmEasterEggs) September 6, 2025
If you think that the character of Morgan Freeman looked a bit familiar, it was because Vitruvius was a parody of the wizened characters with magical abilities, namely Dumbledore and Gandalf.
Morgan Freeman’s Vitruvius in The Lego Movie Was a Parody of Dumbledore
Historians may know Vitruvius as a Roman architect and engineer (I stumbled upon it accidentally), but for The Lego Movie, Vitruvius is the parody of all the wizened wizard characters that you have encountered so far. The addition of Morgan Freeman as the voice artist lends another hidden joke because Freeman has played these characters before.
Although not confirmed, Vitruvius looks as if Dumbledore and Gandalf fused together. With both being wizards with great beards, Vitruvius presents himself as a wise person (including a staff) while wearing a t-shirt and jeans beneath that white robe.
However, it is a parody of the wizard/wise characters and a parody of Morgan Freeman’s iconic roles. Throughout his career, Freeman has often portrayed characters who are wise and all-knowing. He was literally God in the 2003 film Bruce Almighty.
Naturally, not only was Vitruvius a funny character, but his iconic dialogues and the anti-wisdom persona made for some funny insider jokes due to Morgan Freeman’s casting.
But… what happened to the rest of the LEGO movies?
What Happened to the Universal-Lego Deal?
Following the success of The LEGO Movie, two more spin-offs were announced, namely The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Ninjago Movie. Although the Batman movie was a critical and commercial success, The LEGO Ninjago Movie was considered a failure.
Back in 2020, Universal Pictures signed a deal with LEGO to produce movies. Although there were some restrictions and conditions, the deal is largely considered a flop since we haven’t had a good The LEGO Movie in quite a while now.
At the moment, there are several projects related to the LEGO franchise, but none of them seem to be promising so far.
| Film Title | Production Stage | Notes |
| Untitled live-action/animation LEGO film | Unconfirmed | In July 2023, Aaron and Adam Nee were announced as directors of the film |
| Piece by Piece | Released on October 10, 2024 | Box office failure, earning only $10 million in total |
| Three live-action LEGO films | In development | Announced on October 31, 2024 |
| Untitled LEGO Ninjago movie | In development | Announced in October, 2024 |
Well, none of these movies seems promising, and it might be true that no sequel/spin-off shall ever match the greatness of the original 2014 flick. As of now, the deal between LEGO and Universal Pictures still stands.
Do you think The LEGO franchise will be able to pull through? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The LEGO Movie is available to rent on Apple TV (USA).
