When The LEGO Movie was announced a couple of years ago, many of us were skeptical about how the beloved little bricks could be brought to the big screen, and admittedly assumed the worst. Luckily, the film ended up being incredibly fun and entertaining, acting as more of a love letter to LEGO than a two hour commercial for the product. This was largely due to the duo hired to bring the film to life, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who are now have three massive hits on their filmography, after Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street.
The LEGO Movie has grossed over $361 million worldwide and received accolades across the board, so it comes as no surprise that a sequel is on the way. In fact, the follow-up was officially announced before the first movie even hit theaters, and has been given a May 26th, 2017 release date.
Unfortunately, Miller and Lord won’t be back to helm The LEGO Movie 2, and will be instead serving as producers on the project. But don’t worry, LEGO fans, their replacement is perhaps the best man that they could tap to do the job: Robot Chicken director and Emmy award winner Chris McKay.
In case the name doesn’t ring a bell, McKay served as the animation director on The LEGO Movie, so he won’t be completely new to the franchise. We also now know that this will be a direct sequel to the first film, and not that Ninjago spinoff that the studio is also trying to make. No real surprise there.
While it’s a bit upsetting that Lord and Miller won’t be behind the camera for the sequel, as I said above, McKay is an excellent candidate and I’m confident that the film is in good hands.
We’ll keep you posted on The LEGO Movie 2 as more updates arise.