'Shrek 5' in the works with original cast seemingly set to return
It looks like Shrek's happily ever after is not yet over as DreamWorks Animation is in talks with Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri about continuing one of the most beloved animated film series.
Meledandri sat down with Variety this month to talk about the upcoming animated flick The Super Mario Bros. Movie. During which he revealed that he has been negotiating with DreamWorks Animation to revive the franchise with a fifth installment and have the original voice actors Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy play their parts.
"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 said.
He went on, "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 revival comes as Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, a spin-off to the Shrek franchise that tells the origin story of Puss in Boots, received overwhelming success in terms of both the box office and reviews from critics.
In fact, at the end of the film, the swashbuckling cat fugitive could be seen setting sail to the Kingdom of Far Far Away where Shrek and the rest of the gang live, seemingly teasing their return.
While nothing has been finalized yet, Meledandri stressed that there's "tremendous enthusiasm" among the actors during the negotiations.
Murphy, who voices the loveable ogre's best friend Donkey, told Etalk back in January that he would gladly join the production of another Shrek project.
"If [DreamWorks] ever came with another Shrek, I’d do it in two seconds. I love Donkey. 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," Murphy told the celebrity news outlet.
Meledandri highlighted that what Murphy said is "evidence of his strong enthusiasm for a role that he so brilliantly inhabited and really created alongside the artists at DreamWorks."
Myers, who plays Shrek, shared the same sentiments, as he told GQ during an interview in May 2022, "The concept of going from a self-loathing ogre to a self-accepting ogre was meaningful to me. I love playing Shrek. If I had to do one Shrek a year I’d be thrilled."
The last film in the franchise, Shrek Forever After, was released way back in 2010. In case you haven't watched any of the four installments, the premise centers on how the titular ogre struggles with his solitary life in the swamps because of how people are easily frightened by him.
His whole world changes when he accepts a quest to rescue a princess, resulting in him finally being accepted by society, finding friends, and going on many adventures in the fairy tale world.