The Lego Movie Sequel Will Feature More Female Characters

The upcoming sequel to The LEGO Movie will feature more female characters than its male-dominated predecessor, according to BBC News.

At a time when two of the biggest blockbusters in recent memory -- Frozen and The Hunger Games -- were driven by female leads, most other big-budget movies are still struggling to find a role for female protagonists, who have traditionally been downplayed since there was a perception that featuring them prominently would reduce appeal to young males.

"It's important to us that the movie plays broadly and that we inspire young women as much as we inspire young men," co-director Phil Lord told the BBC.

The previous film featured one key female lead -- Wyldestyle -- and while she was smart, tough and funny, some critics noted that a key part of her character's arc was defined by her relationships to Emmet and Batman -- the guy who had a crush on her, and her detached, self-centered boyfriend, respectively.

"You can feel that the whole movie culture is now starting to wake up to the fact that half the audience are women," Lord said. "Frozen is reflective of that - and I think we are all going to find a great flourishing of women filmmakers and subject matter in the future."

"There's been a real shortage of [female protagonists] in recent years and I think that the near future will be very different," added co-director Chris Miller.

Lego Movie 2 is in the very early stages, and is expected in theaters in 2018.