The creative talent behind The Lego Movie , the 2014 smash-hit animated film, have promised that its 2017 sequel will possess more female characters.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who wrote and directed The Lego Movie together, a duel role that they also took for 22 Jump Street , told BBC News that they recognize the need to confront the gender imbalance that is rife in Hollywood. Phil Lord then went on to explain that this means that they want to appeal and inspire more young women.
“It’s important to us that the movie plays broadly and that we inspire young women as much as we inspire young men.”
Christopher Miller refused to be drawn on what specific female roles would be featured in the film, which included not revealing if the lead character is a woman.
“I don’t want to give spoilers but there will be more female characters and more female stuff.”
It appears as if both Miller and Lord have been inspired by the success of the princesses in Brave and Frozen . Merida and Anna, who appeared in the Pixar and Disney films, respectively, have blossomed into pop culture phenomenons. Both films also went on to win the best animated feature film Oscars in 2013 and 2014.
Because of the success of these films, Phil Lord declared that the rest of the film industry is finally waking up to the realization that “half the audience are women.”
“You can feel that the whole movie culture is now starting to wake up to the fact that half the audience are women. ‘Frozen’ is reflective of that – and I think we are all going to find a great flourishing of women film makers and subject matter in the future.”
This was a sentiment that Christopher Miller echoed, as he went on to insist, “There’s been a real shortage of [female protagonists] in recent years and I think that the near future will be very different.”
Other than these little ideas though, the pair have yet to actually form a real outline for the hugely anticipated follow-up. In fact, Miller added that he believes that film will undergo a huge transformation before it is finally released, before then comparing the film business to lego itself.
“I’m certain [that] many broad elements of it will change by the time the movie comes out because that’s the way that it works. It’s like Lego itself – you can take it apart and put it back together in a different shape.”