Illumination Studios is heading back to the swamp. Sitting down with Variety ahead of the premiere of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri confirmed that the Shrek franchise is set to be rebooted, with Shrek 5 currently in the works.
At this time, details of the upcoming film remain unclear, and it seems Shrek 5 is still in the very early stages of development. However, it does seem likely that the original cast – Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy – are poised to return as the voice of characters Shrek, Princess Fiona, and Donkey. Meledandri told Variety that offers have been sent to those three core cast members and they “anticipate the cast coming back.” Meledandri explained, “Talks are starting now, and every indication that we’ve gotten is there’s tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of the actors to return.”
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“It’s not that dissimilar to the process that we went through with Mario, where you look at what the core elements are that audiences have loved, and you do your very best to honor those core elements,” he added, referring to the new The Super Mario Bros. Movie, set to hit theaters on April 5. “And then you’re hard at work to build story elements and new characters that take you to brand new places. The original cast is a huge part of that.”
The news comes just a few months after Murphy sparked hope for another Shrek movie when he told ETalk in January, “I’d absolutely be open if they ever came with another Shrek, I’d do it in two seconds. I love Donkey. You know, they did Puss in Boots movies. I was like, ‘They should have done a Donkey movie. Donkey is funnier than Puss in Boots.’ I mean, I love Puss in Boots, but he ain’t funny as the Donkey.” After hearing Murphy’s excitement for another Shrek film, Meledandri told Variety he was “thrilled,” adding, “It’s evidence of his strong enthusiasm for a role that he so brilliantly inhabited and really created alongside the artists at DreamWorks. I found that comment to be very exciting.”
The Shrek franchise launched in 2001 when the first film debuted. It was followed by the sequels Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, and Shrek Forever After in 2004, 2007, and 2010. The franchise also includes two television specials, the Christmas television special Shrek the Halls, released in 2007, and the Halloween television special Scared Shrekless, which aired in 2010. The franchise has also since grown to include two spin-off films centered around Puss, an orange-striped cat that is skilled with a sword, with 2011’s Puss in Boots and its sequel, 2022’s The Last Wish. In addition to Shrek 5, Meledandri also teased that the Shrek franchise could expand with a spin-off centered on Donkey, though it doesn’t seem that is in the works just yet.
