2000s Though nothing they pitched made it to air, Lord and Miller produced the pilot to
Clone High, which was subsequently dropped by
Fox. After they wrote and produced on a series of sitcoms,
MTV informed the duo that they were interested in purchasing a 13-episode season of
Clone High. Although the show was met with acclaim, MTV canceled the series after
hunger strike protests occurred in India over the show's portrayal of Gandhi as a motor-mouthed partier. In 2003, the two were tapped to write a screenplay for
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, their first feature film. After a year working on the script, they were fired for story issues and replaced with new writers, who after a year were fired themselves. Lord and Miller were re-hired in 2006. The two completely redid the script, this time with the creative input of their crew. The new draft had the protagonist as a failed inventor who wanted to prove himself to his town. The two were almost fired again after
Amy Pascal, the head of
Sony Pictures at the time, criticized the film for a lack of story. Although the film succeeded on the comedic front in the
animatic stage, Pascal cited the lack of an anchoring relationship in the film as a failure in the story telling. Unable to create new characters and environments to suit the new story demands, the two elevated the character of the tackle shop extra to be the protagonist's father, thereby creating the relationship Pascal had requested.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was released in 2009 to positive reviews.
2010s . After
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was released, the two sought to try to make something different and pitched themselves as possible directors for the
21 Jump Street script that
Michael Bacall and
Jonah Hill had written. The studio agreed and the two directed their first live-action R-rated film, released to critical acclaim, which led to the production of the sequel
22 Jump Street. In an interview with
Robert K. Elder for his book ''
The Best Film You've Never Seen'', Lord stated that "in an animated feature, you remake the movie three or four times, and it's really easy to get bummed out that the way you did it before didn't get greenlit, didn't get paid, and you're making a totally different version of that movie." During the production of
21 Jump Street, they pitched a take on a possible Lego film to
Dan Lin. Lin and
Warner Bros. loved the take, so Lord and Miller wrote and eventually directed their third feature film together,
The Lego Movie. The duo were picked by Warner Bros. to write the story treatment for the then-upcoming superhero film
The Flash, but dropped out of the project in favor of directing the then-untitled
Solo: A Star Wars Story. The duo were picked by
Sony Pictures Animation in 2015 to create an animated
Spider-Man film, with the option to direct. The film was eventually made as
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), which the duo produced and which Lord co-wrote. The duo have developed a live-action/animated series,
Son of Zorn, for
Fox, with
Jason Sudeikis voicing the lead role of animated character Zorn, and
Johnny Pemberton and
Cheryl Hines playing the live-action roles. They are producing a cable-TV drama based on the popular
NPR/
This American Life spinoff podcast
Serial. In January 2017, Lord and Miller began directing the then-untitled film
Solo: A Star Wars Story, a standalone
Star Wars movie based on the
Han Solo character. On June 20, 2017, it was reported that they had been fired from the project by
Lucasfilm, after over four-and-a-half months of filming, about three-quarters through principal photography. Lucasfilm announced that "creative differences" were the reason, with
Entertainment Weekly reporting that Lord and Miller were going off-script and trying to make the film into more of a comedy. They were unwilling to compromise with Lucasfilm and writer
Lawrence Kasdan on the direction of the film, preferring their vision. Two days later,
Ron Howard was announced as the replacement, to complete the film and reshoots. Lord and Miller received executive-producer credits on
Solo: A Star Wars Story. In November 2017, Lord and Miller commented on their departure from
Solo: A Star Wars Story. Lord stated "The experience of shooting the movie was wonderful. We had the most incredible cast and crew and collaborators. [...] We're really proud of the work we did on the movie and we wish everybody the best." Miller added "As Phil said, we had such a great relationship with cast and crew, we were really rooting for them. After we took a much-needed vacation, we got back into it and now we're writing and producing a
sequel to
The Lego Movie and producing a
Miles Morales animated Spider-Man." In August 2019, Lord and Miller signed a
first-look deal with
Universal Pictures.
2020s In 2021, Lord and Miller produced two animated films that were distributed through
Netflix. The first was
The Mitchells vs. the Machines for Sony Pictures Animation. They also produced an R-rated animated
Netflix original film called
America: The Motion Picture alongside Will Allegra,
Matt Thompson,
David Callaham,
Channing Tatum,
Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan from a screenplay by Callaham and directed by Thompson. In June 2020, it was reported that Lord and Miller would be developing an eight-episode television series titled
The Afterparty for
Apple TV+. The series is a murder mystery comedy set at a high school reunion where each episode features a retelling of the same night told through a different character's point of view. Miller created and directed the series, while serving as an executive producer alongside Lord. The series premiered on January 28, 2022, to critical acclaim. On November 1, 2019, it was announced that Lord and Miller would be returning as producers and writers for
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which was released on June 2, 2023. In December 2021, Lord and Miller revealed that
Across the Spider-Verse was being split into two parts after they had written down the story they wanted to tell for the sequel and realized that it was too much for a single film. Work on both parts was taking place simultaneously, or at least believed to be until June 2023 when
animators claimed they were overworked to complete Part One, with Part Two since renamed to
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. The film was removed from the release schedule on July 28, 2023, reportedly due to the then-ongoing
2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Its original release date of March 29, 2024, was taken by
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Recording of voice lines were set to resume on November 9, 2023, following the resolution of the SAG-AFTRA strike, and production was confirmed by Miller to have resumed the following month. At
CinemaCon, Sony announced a release date of June 4, 2027. By July, the film was further delayed to June 25, 2027, and pushed forward to June 18, 2027 in September. On July 2, 2020, it was announced that
MTV Entertainment Studios was developing a revival of
Clone High, and that original series creators, Lord, Miller, and
Bill Lawrence would be involved with the project. In February 2021, HBO
Max ordered two seasons of the revival, the first of which premiered on May 23, 2023. As part of their first-look deal with Universal Pictures, Lord and Miller have produced two R-rated comedy films for the studio;
Cocaine Bear, a comedy horror film which was inspired by the true story involving the
eponymous bear, and
Strays, a comedy about talking dogs. On May 15, 2020,
Variety reported that Lord and Miller are attached to direct a
film adaptation of
Andy Weir's next novel
Project Hail Mary for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with
Ryan Gosling attached to star in the leading role and
Amy Pascal producing. Filming began in June 2024 in the United Kingdom. The film, which was Lord and Miller's first directorial credit
in over a decade, was released on March 20, 2026.
Future projects In September 2017, it was announced that Lord & Miller will direct an adaptation of
Andy Weir's
Artemis for
Regency Enterprises through
20th Century Fox, with
Geneva Robertson-Dworet set to adapt the screenplay, along with
Simon Kinberg and Aditya Sood producing. The film had been in development hell for several years due to the
Disney-Fox merger, along with budgetary and technical issues. During promotion of
Project Hail Mary (another adaptation of a Weir novel), Lord & Miller expressed renewed interest in directing
Artemis, with hopes to start the project after finishing
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. In October 2023, writer
Dennis E. Taylor, author of the
Bobiverse series, announced that a potential adaptation had been optioned to Lord Miller Productions for distribution through Universal Pictures. In August 2025, it was announced that Lord and Miller would be developing a feature adaptation film based on
Archie Comics at Universal Pictures, with
Tom King attached to pen the screenplay. Lord and Miller are producing a film adaptation of the
crime drama television series
Murder, She Wrote, which was set to release on December 22, 2027 before being pushed back to February 4, 2028 a month later. Lord and Miller are producing a sequel to
The Mitchells vs. the Machines.
Other projects Lord co-wrote the comic
Spider-Man Annual #1, marking his first involvement on a comic book; he and Miller also co-wrote a Marvel comic celebrating the company's 80th anniversary, marking Miller's first time writing a comic book. In September 2020, it was announced that a live-action television series based on the character
Silk was in development, with both Lord and Miller serving as executive producers alongside Amy Pascal. The series, which is part of
Sony's Spider-Man Universe, would be ordered by
MGM+ and
Amazon Prime Video under the title
Silk: Spider Society, with
Angela Kang serving as the showrunner. However, in February 2024, the series was redeveloped for a more "male-skewing" audience with the
writers' room paused, and in May the same year, Amazon dropped the series, with Sony shopping it to other potential buyers. Lord and Miller are set to produce the
Spider-Noir live-action television series for MGM+. Lord and Miller also produced the Spanish-language drama film,
Los Frikis. ==Style and influences==