2014 found its first certified blockbuster in The LEGO Movie, which is currently the number one film of the year in worldwide ticket sales– the film has earned $361.4 million at the box office and is still going strong.  So strong that’s it’s well over $100 million ahead of it’s nearest competitor thus far.  On top of that, the reviews were stellar, sparked early 2014 awards season chatter as a possible threat in the animated category (and perhaps as well for it’s catchy “Everything is Awesome” original song), and has achieved a fanboy lust seldom seen this side of a new Marvel film.  Of course a second round was inevitable.  Now comes word that the Chris McKay will be directing The LEGO Movie 2, taking over the reins of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, co-directors of the first go around.We previously reported that distributor Warner Bros. (and its newly formed Warner Animation Group) was so pleased with the results that a sequel was green-lit before the first installment was even released in theaters, so much that there’s potentially a spin-off movie in the works in the form of LEGO Ninjago.  McKay worked on the first installment as animation co-director and editor and proved his worth in the animation genre as the Emmy-award winning director on Adult Swim cult favorites Robot Chicken and Moral Orel.  This marks his first directing assignment on a animated feature film. Lord and Miller, who prior to The LEGO Movie directed the animated hit Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and live action sleeper 21 Jump Street, are confirmed as producers on the sequel, while Jared Smith (The Princess and the Frog, Wreck-It-Ralph) and Michelle Morgan (Girl Most Likely) have been tapped to write a treatment for the second installment.

As of now, it’s still unclear as what direction The LEGO Movie 2 will head in, as in if it will be straight-forward sequel maintaining focus on the first chapter’s lovable simple Emmet Brickowsoki (voiced by Chris Pratt), or it will spear in a separately, further broadening the LEGO brand.  And what will the LEGO Ninjago foreshadow to the impending sequel, if it makes it theaters beforehand.  For now, information is coming piece by piece, perhaps appropriately so.  The LEGO Movie is still currently in theaters, here’s our review.