Dreamworks’ Shrek franchise, which includes four main films and that Puss in Boots spinoff from seven years ago, has earned more than $3.5B worldwide. That it’s taken this long to get started on a new film is surprising, and so is the guy tapped with spearheading this latest venture.
Variety reports that Illumination mastermind Chris Meledandri, the guy behind the Despicable Me franchise, has been hired to re-introduce Shrek and Puss in Boots to a new audience. So what does that mean? Reboot? Remake? It’s kinda hard to say because Meledandri doesn’t seem interested in changing the voice cast of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, and Eddie Murphy.
Meledandri says, “When you look back on those vocal performances they’re awesome, and while you certainly could make a case for a complete reinvention, I find myself responding to my own nostalgic feelings of wanting to go back to those characterizations. The challenge for us has been to find something that really does feel like it’s not simply yet another film in a series of sequels…“There’s a tremendous amount of fun to be had in that world, but it’s a high bar to find a story that’s truly of the world. You want to find something in the narrative that really feels like a departure.”
So this could be one of those sidequels that skips ahead in time so it feels new but is really just a continuation with familiar characters?
Shrek seems so dated to me now, and it had run out of ideas long before coming to an end. Perhaps adopting an animation style closer to the Illumination standard will be a way to freshen things up?
The next film for Meledandri and Illumination is this weekend’s The Grinch, featuring the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch.
