LEGO Cartoon Sequel Gets Third Director
The somewhat troubled path to release of the sequel to 2014’s The LEGO Movie has bumped through another pothole. Warner Animation Group has announced that veteran animation and live-action director Mike Mitchell is taking over on the film at the helm of The LEGO Movie Sequel. The animated sequel is looking for a release in about two years, on Feb. 8, 2019, after being pushed back from original planned releases in May of 2017 and May 18, 2018.
Mitchell’s most recent project was DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls, which did an outstanding $340 million at the box office. Mitchell also directed the semi-animated Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and Sponge Out of Water. He has also directed the live-action films Sky High and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.
Mitchell is replacing Rob Schrab, who is leaving due to “creative differences”. Schrab came on board on February 24, 2015, when he replaced Chris McKay, who left to direct The LEGO Batman Movie (which also ended up taking The LEGO Movie Sequel‘s first release date).
Release in 2014, the original The LEGO Movie was a major hit bringing in almost $470 million globally and delighting theatergoers with its slightly silly humor and innovative approach of paying homage to the look of LEGO stop-motion in CG animation. It was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar and won around 70 awards, including the animated feature BAFTA and the Outstanding Achievement, Writing in an Animated Feature Production Annie Award for Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
The success of the original film has spawned three spin-off movies to date, including The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Ninjago Movie, as well as the sequel.
The sequels sees Phil Lord and Chris Miller, writers and directors of the first film, returning as producers and co-writers. Raphael Bob-Waksberg was brought in for the first rewrite, and additional drafts are being done by Matt Fogel. Lord and Miller are also producing the sequel with Dan Lin and Roy Lee joining in for fun.
