The '22 Jump Street' Directors Have Had A String Of Unexpected Box-Office Hits

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are two of the most in-demand directors in Hollywood right now.

If you're not familiar with their names, then you and your kids are definitely familiar with the duo's movies: "The LEGO Movie," the "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" franchise (they wrote the story for the sequel), and both "21 Jump Street" and its sequel out this past weekend, "22 Jump Street."

"The LEGO Movie" was the unexpected break-out hit of February, and is now one of the highest-grossing movies of the year. Lord and Miller are already working on a script for a sequel.

Lord, 37, and Miller, 38, met while attending Dartmouth College and began working together on animation.

The two have been able to make successful break-out movies on relatively modest budgets. ("The LEGO Movie" cost an estimated $60 million to make.)

One of the reasons behind Lord and Miller's success is that their films are incredibly self aware. An ongoing gag in "22 Jump Street" pokes fun at sequels. Early in the film, Deputy Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman) delivers a fantastic monologue on the subject to Hill and Tatum's characters.

Below are the box office numbers for Lord and Miller's previous films.

They're a pair you should definitely be keeping your eye on.