Warner Bros. wasted no time putting together the building blocks for a sequel to The LEGO Movie, no surprise considering the $360M worth of damage it's done at the box office. Phil Lord and Chris Miller were obviously wanted back to direct, but given their past history it seemed more likely they'd slip into producer roles, and that's exactly what has happened. Fortunately, Deadline is reporting that Chris McKay, a key figure in the last film's success, is the guy to direct The LEGO Movie 2.
In McKay's role as animation director he was largely responsible for giving the film its unique, blocky look. He comes with a wealth of experience having worked on Robot Chicken for years, as well as directing Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III. He's also currently on the shortlist to direct a Masters of the Universe film, but that may no longer be the case. Michelle Morgan and Jared Stern are penning the screenplay, and right now it's unclear where the story could go. Apparently it could be either "a straight sequel or a film that broadens the LEGO empire by focusing on the character Ninjago."
This puts Warner Bros. in an interesting position, because they only have the rights for one LEGO sequel, and they've been looking to branch out from the LEGO franchise with a solo Ninjago film. They even tapped Charlie Bean (Tron: Uprising) to direct it. If they meld that idea into a proper LEGO sequel, does that mean they'd look to spinoff a different character?
The LEGO Movie 2 is set to open May 26th 2017.
