Back in March, Elton John’s Rocket Pictures, which spearheaded the original movie’s development, announced that successful ‘toon _Gnomeo & Juliet **would be getting a sequel_called Sherlock Gnomes. Now it has a director, with Kung Fu Panda man John Stevenson on board.
Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil are back once more for the new adventure, which focuses on the main characters from the first film (so hopefully James McAvoy and Emily Blunt will return to the voice booth) enlisting the aid of a master gnome detective to discover why some ornaments are vanishing from the gardens of England.
“John has the perfect sensibility for this movie, together with the vision to build on the first film to create a distinctive, fresh and action-packed adventure,” said Rocket boss Steve Hamilton Shaw in a statement picked up by Deadline.
Stevenson’s not a shocking choice, since the first movie’s director Kelly Asbury was a DreamWorks transplant. He’s also acted as story artist on the likes of the Shrek films and got his start working with the Jim Henson company.