The Book of Life helmer Jorge R. Gutiérrez revealed via Facebook that he has left his gig as a director at Warner Bros. Animation, and is no longer attached to direct LEGO Movie spinoff The Billion Brick Race.
Gutiérrez stated:
“I would like to publicly and from the bottom of my heart thank everyone I worked with at Briksburg, Lego and WAG. These last 9 months were a rollercoaster of thrills to say the least. I met so many amazing new people and learned a ton from all these incredible artists, directors, writers, editors, producers and execs. I leave a better filmmaker and it’s because of you all. May our paths cross again. Gracias mis amigos. And as I toasted on my first day there, ‘May we slip n slide on the blood of our enemies!!!’”
In addition to the highly acclaimed 2014 feature The Book of Life — which earned him an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character Design in an Animated Feature Production and a Golden Globe nomination — Gutiérrez is known for creating the Emmy Award-winning series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera and, more recently, the acclaimed, award-winning VR short Son of Jaguar for Google Spotlight Stories. He is currently working again with Reel FX as writer-director on space western project Kung Fu Space Punch. The promising project centers on one of the galaxy’s most charming outlaws, the leader of a funny, ragtag crew of rebel bandits that are put on a collision course with a legendary villain to determine the fate of the galaxy. According to Gutierrez, Kung Fu Space Punch will be “a funny mash-up of some of my favorite influences: ‘90s Kung Fu films, Spaghetti Westerns of the ‘60s, and the epic Space Adventures of the ‘70s, ‘80s and today.”
