Believe it or not, the last Shrek movie was waaaaaay back in 2010 with Shrek Forever After. Initially intended to be the last movie in the franchise, it only took a few years before Dreamworks began plotting a new one. Of course, that fairy tale universe never really went anywhere. In 2011, the Puss in Boots movies kept it alive, and the recent Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has been one of the biggest hits of the past year. Plus, there have been Shrek musicals and TV spinoffs.
Now, Chris Meledandri of Illumination, the folks behind the upcoming Super Mario Bros movie, as well as a partner at Dreamworks Animation, has stated that Shrek 5 is indeed on the way. And not only that, but the original cast of Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy is expected to return.
“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,” Meledandri said to Variety. “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.”
Meledandri added, “We anticipate the cast coming back. Talks are starting now, and every indication that we’ve gotten is there’s tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of the actors to return.”
Frankly, I’m surprised it’s taken this long for Shrek to come back. When combined with Puss in Boots, the franchise has generated over $4B billion worldwide. There’s little doubt that audiences will greet the return of the big green ogre with open arms.