Slowly clicking into place since Warner Bros. nabbed the rights to make a film from the plastic stuff back in 2008, the Lego movie is now making a move towards production, with the studio setting a rough 2014 release.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller are still attached, having re-written the script originally drafted by Dan and Kevin Hagerman. And they’ve got a new recruit aboard to help with the directorial workload: Chris McKay, who’s usually to be found bringing characters to life on Robot Chicken.

There are still no solid details about the plot out there, but the film will apparently comprise 80% animation with live action actors, and the search for the humans is scheduled to start in January. But the studio already has its eye on a ‘toon team to handle the plastic fantasy elements: Australian company Animal Logic, best known for their Oscar-scooping work on Happy Feet (and now its sequel), is aboard. Their presence means the movie scores some handy tax breaks from Down Under.

Despite the stiff cloak of secrecy, Lord talked a little about the concept last year, explaining that the idea is to craft a universe of the knobbly plastic bricks, with everything from water to explosions formed of the stuff. More info should start to leak as casting gets underway and after a news conference set for next week in New South Wales.

Lord and Miller will get to work on making the thing once they’ve put the finishing touches to their live-action debut, 21 Jump Street, which is out here on March 16, 2012.