While we can all thank writer-directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord (plus co-writers Dan and Kevin Hagerman) for the fun of The Lego Movie, some of the credit definitely belongs to animation director and editor Chris McKay. Warner Bros. clearly believes he’s ready to step things up a gear, and has put him in charge of the whole shebang for the sequel.
With the huge success of the first film ($361 million and counting so far worldwide), it was inevitable that the studio would want to kick off work on a follow-up, and already has Jared Stern and Michelle Morgan busy coming up with a script. With Lord and Miller overseeing as producers (and key members of Warners’ animation “brain trust” that aims to pool creative people and resources in a way similar to Pixar and Disney’s methods), McKay was the natural choice to take the big job for the new movie. He’s a veteran of shows such as Robot Chicken and Moral Orel, and has also worked as a writer, director or editor on several indie movies.
As for what the sequel will actually be about? That’s still up in the air, though we’d expect to see some continuation of Emmet (Chris Pratt) and co.’s adventures. Fingers crossed the new movie boasts the same level of mad inventiveness. However it turns out, Warners wants it American cinemas at least for May 26, 2017.