Feb 9, 2017

Rob Shrub out, "Trolls" director Mike Mitchell for "Lego Movie" sequel

It's getting hard to keep track of all of Warner Bros.' Lego-branded movies. The Lego Batman Movie opens in U.S. theaters tomorrow, the first trailer for The Lego Ninjago Movie was just released, and now, Trolls director Mike Mitchell has signed on to direct the sequel to the film that started it all, 2014's The Lego Movie.

Mitchell becomes the movie's second director. Rob Schrab (Community, The Sarah Silverman Program,) was the original director, but departed due to “creative differences,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, which first reported news of Mitchell's hiring.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who wrote and directed the original Lego Movie, also wrote the first draft of the sequel, which has since been rewritten by Bojack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg, and then by Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son writer Matt Fogel.

Mitchell also recently signed on to develop Puff, The Magic Dragon for Fox Animation, but it looks like he'll be directing the Lego Movie sequel before dealing with Puff.

Besides Trolls, Mitchell's other directing credits include Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked , Shrek Forever After, Sky High, and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. He also directed the live-action sequences in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

The sequel's current release date is February 8, 2019, pushed back from a 2018 release.