Before The LEGO Movie premiered in theaters, Warner Bros. was gearing up to launch a full franchise, beginning development on a sequel before the first had even made its debut. Following The LEGO Movie’s successful run at the box office, where it earned $468 million worldwide (making it the third top grossing movie of the year so far), Warner Bros. has since announced three LEGO feature films to debut over the next four years. The spinoffs, Ninjago and LEGO Batman will premiere in 2016 and 2017 respectively, while LEGO Movie 2 will premiere in 2018.

When the sequel was first announced as in development, the script was set to be penned by Jared Stern (The Internship) and Michelle Morgan (Girl Most Likely), but Warner Bros. has officially tapped a different — slightly more familiar — writing team.

Deadline is reporting that the original LEGO Movie writing/directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller — who also directed this summer’s 22 Jump Street — are returning to write the script for The LEGO Movie sequel (in addition to producing the followup). Chris McKay (co-director/supervisor on The LEGO Movie) was previously announced to direct the sequel, but he’s reportedly since stepped down to helm LEGO Batman instead.

It’s possible that Lord and Miller will end up directing LEGO Movie 2, now that they are onboard as writers. However, while a sequel to one of their own hits isn’t new territory for the pair (see again, the 21 Jump Street sequel), Lord and Miller previously co-wrote the story for the followup to their animated feature Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, then stepped down from the director’s chair(s). Not to mention, they have other projects competing for their attention right now, too.

However, since Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 wasn’t as well received as the original — due in part to a lack of the original’s humor and heart — there is a chance The LEGO Movie 2 may suffer similar issues or other problems that may be typical of sequels, if Lord and Miller decide to work on the project as writers only.

Then again, even in the short time since Cloudy 2 debuted, Lord and Miller have put out a new well-received animated feature — The LEGO Movie — and directed the follow up to a fresh comedy reboot — 22 Jump Street. So, it’s certainly possible that this added experience could help the writing duo produce a better sequel than Cloudy 2 (regardless of who directs) and, perhaps, a better film than even the original LEGO Movie.

The LEGO Movie 2 is expected to reach theaters on May 25th, 2018.

http://screenrant.com/lego-movie-2-writers-lord-miller/