AceShowbiz - Warner Bros. is gearing up for "Jonny Quest" with a new helmer on board. The studio has hired "The Lego Batman Movie" director Chris McKay to serve behind the lens for its live-action adaptation of the 1960s popular animated series.

Robert Rodriguez was previously set to direct the feature film, which has been in development in Warner Bros. for years. It's unclear, though, as to why the mastermind behind the "Spy Kids" film franchise dropped out of the "Jonny Quest" movie.

TheWrap, which first reported McKay's involvement in the upcoming project, also learned from an individual with knowledge of the project that the studio is eying a major movie star to play Race Bannon. The character is depicted as a government agent similar to a cross between Indiana Jones and Jason Bourne. Back in 2016, it was reported that Idris Elba, Bradley Cooper and Will Smith were being considered for the role.

The action-adventure movie has Daniel Alter on board as executive producer, with Rideback's Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich as well as Adrian Askarieh of Prime Universe serving as producers. Terry Rossio and Dan Mazeau wrote previous drafts of the screenplay.

Based on Hanna-Barbera primetime animated series created by Doug Wildey in the mid-1960s, the story centers on the adventurous boy hero Jonny Quest who travels with his scientist father, his adopted brother Hadji, and their former secret agent bodyguard, Race Bannon, around the world to solve world-threatening mysteries.

In 2010, Zac Efron was cast as Quest, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Bannon. Peter Segal was rumored to direct, but the project never came to fruition. Currently, there is no word regarding which actor is circling the lead role for McKay's take.

McKay is best known for directing and editing three seasons of "Robot Chicken". He worked as an animation co-director on "The Lego Movie" (2014) with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, before making his feature film directorial debut with "The Lego Batman Movie " (2017). He is currently also attached to direct a live-action "Nightwing" movie centering on DC's character Dick Grayson.