We've all been waiting for news on the follow-up to 2014's surprisingly awesome The Lego Movie, but now it sounds like we'll have to wait a little longer. Warner Bros' release schedule seems to still be in flux after we reported that they were looking to focus more on their individual franchises like DC Comics and Harry Potter. That includes the Lego franchise, with The Lego Batman Movie spinoff and The Lego Movie 2 on the docket. Unfortunately, that sequel will be coming later rather than sooner as it's being reported that the film is getting pushed back almost a full year.
According to Deadline, The Lego Movie 2 has been pushed back from its initial release date of March 18, 2018, to February 8, 2019. That's almost a full year later and the sequel will now premiere almost five years to the date after the first Lego Movie. The Lego Movie 2 isn't the only movie over at Warner Bros to be shifted around for better or worse. The disaster flick Geostorm is getting moved for the second time while Bastards, the Owen Wilson and Ed Helms comedy, has been pushed from November of this year to January 2017. Considering that it was initially going to open against Marvel's Dr. Strange, that move is probably a wise decision.
There are no reasons stated for why The Lego Movie 2 was pushed back so far, so your guess is as good as mine. Animation takes a long time to produce, so it could be something as simple as giving the movie more time to figure itself out. Zootopia went through a bunch of different story iterations before Disney settled on the one eventually seen in theaters. On the other hand, it could be a trainwreck of unimaginable proportions and the movie needs those extra months to somehow become the greatest movie ever made.
Another possibility is that Warner Bros is stretching out the franchise to avoid Lego overload. The Lego Batman Movie remains at its February 10, 2017 release date and The Ninjago Lego Movie is slated for September 2017. That means that The Lego Movie 2 would have originally opened just one year after two other different unrelated Lego films. Now it's premiering two years afterward, making the audience wait to see another Lego movie, thus building its hype.
There's still very little information on The Lego Movie 2. Scarce plot details are known and no returning cast members have been announced, but one would imagine that favorites like Emmet, Wyldstyle, Batman, Metal Beard, and Unikitty will come back. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are returning to write the screenplay but have passed over directing duties to Rob Schrab. The duo is also hard at work on a gazillion other projects that include the young Han Solo film and Sony's animated Spider-Man film.
The wait is a bit longer but The Lego Movie 2 will eventually hit theaters on February 8, 2019.
