Chris Pratt's Emmet may have been the star and focus of The Lego Movie, but one of the undoubted highlights of this year’s animated success was the arrogant, self-satisfied and, most importantly, orphan-status-obsessed Batman, voiced by Will Arnett. Warner Bros. has taken note of the attention and is pushing a Bat-centric spin-off into production{
According to The Hollywood Reporter, **Lego Movie **animation supervisor and co-editor Chris McKay is switching his focus from the in-development Lego Movie sequel to concentrate instead on getting Batman ready for his close-up in a potential 2017 release slot. **Dark Shadow****s **script man Seth Grahame-Smith is in charge of putting words in Arnett’s mouth, as the actor will reprise his none-more-gravelly delivery for the new film.
Nothing is known about the plot for this one yet, but presumably it will once again see Batman act like he's the coolest guy in the world and presumably see him making up more theme songs about his lack of parents. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who co-wrote and directed the first Lego Movie, are producing the film via the animation “Brain Trust” they’re heading up for the studio.
In related** Lego Movie** news, the next planned release from the team is Ninjago, due on September 23, 2016 in the US and October 14, 2016 here, before Batman returns, with the** Lego Movie** sequel presumably slipping to a post-2017 slot.