The Lego Movie may have been snubbed at the Oscars, but that’s okay, because the sequel to the fifth highest-grossing film of 2014 in the U.S. has found its director.
Warner Bros. announced this week that multitalented writer/director/producer Rob Schrab will direct the still-untitled sequel to The Lego Movie, which is being written by the first film’s writing and directing duo, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The film will be Schrab’s feature directing debut.
Back in March 2014, it was rumored that the sequel would be directed by the first film’s animation co-director, Chris McKay, but that appears to have changed in the last 11 months or so.
Schrab’s name may be unfamiliar to mainstream audiences, but he’s quietly collected an impressive resume of awards, nominations, and other honors for his work in television, animation, and comic books. He won one Primetime Emmy Award and was nominated for another for his work as a writer on the 81st Annual Academy Awards broadcast, and earned an Annie Award nomination for writing the screenplay to the 2006 animated feature Monster House.
As a director, Schrab helmed episodes of Community and The Mindy Project, as well as writing, directing, and executive producing The Sarah Silverman Program (earning him a Writers Guild of America Award nomination). He also created the celebrated comic book series Scud: The Disposable Assassin. (Side note: If you haven’t read Scud, you’re missing out on one of the greatest comic book series ever published.)
“We are so excited to collaborate with Rob,” said Lord and Miller in a statement accompanying the announcement. “He is a comedy genius, a visual savant, and we have been stalking him for years. No one works harder than Rob, and his aesthetic, combined with his sense of humor, bring a strong, unique, thoughtful, and passionately nerdy voice to this project. People who know him are slapping their foreheads today and saying, ‘Of course!.'”
There’s no release date set for The Lego Movie sequel at this point.