Scripts get rewritten and revised all the time, but coupled with a big release date change, it’s the sort of thing that seems a bit worrisome. Such is the case with The LEGO Movie Sequel, which was recently pushed back to 2019 and is undergoing some rewrites — which definitely does not sound like everything is awesome. But there is some good news, which should make fans of The LEGO Movie and a certain Netflix series pretty happy. Per Variety, BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg has been tapped to rewrite the screenplay for The LEGO Movie Sequel, which is being directed by Rob Schrab, who previously worked on Community and Childrens Hospital. The LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller are producing the upcoming sequel, for which they also wrote the first draft of the screenplay. But wait, why would anyone hire someone else to rewrite a Lord and Miller screenplay? Don’t worry: Lord and Miller are simply too preoccupied with their Han Solo Star Wars spinoff to rework the draft themselves, so they decided to bring in another writer to help out.
And it just so happens to be another very talented, very funny and original voice who also has experience in animation. See, everything can be awesome after all. Or at least it will be, eventually, when The LEGO Movie Sequel hits theaters on February 8, 2019.MoviesBen Bussey8 July 2016A new scribe has boarded ‘The Lego Movie Sequel,’ and he’s got a history writing sophisticated comedy in animated form.Variety reports that Raphael Bob-Waksberg, creator of Netflix’s adult-oriented cartoon 'BoJack Horseman,’ has been hired to rewrite the first draft from Phil Lord and Chris Miller.While Lord and Miller wrote and directed the original 'Lego Movie,’ the in-demand duo have a lot on their plate as directors of the upcoming 'Han Solo’ movie, and writers of Sony’s animated 'Spider-Man’ movie.While 'The Lego Movie Sequel’ will be Bob-Waksberg’s first big screen credit, it’s not hard to see why he was considered a good fit for the role, as - not unlike 'The Lego Movie’ - 'BoJack Horseman’ takes a silly-sounding idea, yet builds it into something surprisingly intelligent and bold.
The title character of the series (voiced by Will Arnett, who also plays Batman in 'The Lego Movie’ and the upcoming 'Lego Batman Movie’) is, as the name suggests, a man with a horse’s head, in a world in which people and anthropomorphic animals co-exist.BoJack is also an actor, formerly the lead in a cheesy 1990s sitcom - but the show follows him suffering a midlife crisis. Its third season comes to Netflix later this month.Nothing is known plot-wise about 'The Lego Movie Sequel’ at this point, but it will be directed by Rob Schrab, and is set to open on 8 February 2019.Before that, the 'Lego’ franchise continues with 'The Lego Batman Movie’ due 10 February 2017, and 'The Lego Ninjago Movie’ on 22 September 2017.Picture Credit: Warner Bros, NetflixRead More:Spider-Man Actor’s Eye-Opening SelfieHow The Rock Influenced The War In IraqCaptain Kirk vs Jesus? Last night, I paid $14 to see a 100-minute long commercial in 3D. I’m far from alone. So far, people across the country have paid more than $185 million for the same privilege, which has made The Lego Movie the most popular movie in America for the past three weeks.
It has also received near universal critical acclaim. After I left the cinema it seemed funny to me that as the rise of native advertising in online media prompts more outcry at a dying industry supposedly selling its soul and misleading its readers to save its bottom line, the biggest movie of the year is an overtly branded vehicle made with no regard to the boundary between content creator and brand. The Lego Movie is not subtle in its embrace of the corporate spirit, but who cares? It's native advertising for miniature blocks on an epic scale starting with the title. I assumed that, and a few dozen real world marketing tie-ins and product launches, would be the end of it. But the film is loaded with brand messages about the transformative power of Lego and the power of creativity. I won’t spoil the plot such as it is, but the ending breaks the fourth wall to directly spell out these brand themes in real life and show how Lego brings families closer together. It's an advertisement that plays out its plot at movie-length rather than 45 seconds.
Some might defend the branded content piece of the equation by arguing that Warner Bros. execs decided on their own to make a Lego Movie and Lego, naturally, is simply playing along for commercial gain. Before the film’s release, Bloomberg profiled the exhaustive back and forth during the development of the movie between Dan Lin, producer, and Jill Wilfert, Lego’s VP for licensing and entertainment. Massaging Lego’s brand image was key to the entire endeavor. “If we tell a great story, it can have a halo effect for your brand,” Lin recalls telling the Lego execs. Wilfert too speaks in fluent corporate-speak. “The focus is first and foremost on the brand and delivering quality content that is communicating our values,” she says. Lego and Warner Bros. debated everything from whether Lego characters could kiss to how edgy the jokes could be to make the movie more entertaining to an adult audience. Lin tells Bloomberg the Lego team was "very influential on story, script, every major casting decision, every director decision.”
The rub is, it’s actually a fun film. I'm nearly 30 and it played off my own nostalgia for Lego, making good use of Lego’s dizzying array of product licenses to rope in characters like Batman, Superman, Shaquille O’Neal, and Abraham Lincoln into a silly, yet sharply written cultural pastiche. The creators of the Lego Movie worked with Lego to tell a story about its brand in the same way as every publication from the New York Times to Buzzfeed is working with their advertisers. The result was executed on a much larger scale and stage and was something that people wanted to see and pay for. The key, is openness. No one was tricked or misled. There was no mystery this morning why I felt favorably toward the Lego corporation. Through being so open in its motivations the Lego Movie is less insidious than something like last year’s ‘Man of Steel,’ which pocketed $170 million from over 100 product tie ins or Heineken paying $45 million for James Bond to drink their beer instead of a Martini in ‘Skyfall.’