Warner Bros. Pictures Forms Animation Think Tank

BURBANK: Warner Bros. Pictures has put together a creative consortium focused on the development and production of high-end animated movies, including, as its first project, the upcoming 3D adventure The LEGO Movie.

The goal of this new think tank will be to see the release of one feature per year under the Warner Bros. Pictures banner. The artists involved in the new feature-animation venture are John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (Crazy, Stupid, Love., Cats & Dogs), Nicholas Stoller (The Muppets), Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), and Jared Stern (Mr. Popper’s Penguins). Lord and Miller are directing the first feature in the pipeline, The LEGO Movie, from their own screenplay. A presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, The LEGO Movie is scheduled for release on February 7, 2014.

Other projects on the development roster include Storks, conceived of and being written by Nicholas Stoller and directed by Doug Sweetland, and Smallfoot, to be written by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra from an original idea by Despicable Me’s Sergio Pablos. The films are targeted for release in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Jeff Robinov, the president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, said, “Warner Bros. has an extraordinary legacy in the world of animation, including some of the most enduring characters in cinema history. Looking to the future, we have now gathered some of the best and brightest talents in the industry to help us grow and broaden that legacy. Drawing upon their imaginations and inspiration, the Studio will produce a slate of new and original animated films that are sure to delight audiences of all ages.”