Shrek 5 is officially in development. The last Shrek movie was released over a decade ago, and while fans had almost given up on seeing their favorite ogres and donkeys again, there is finally concrete news about the next installment in this franchise. The first Shrek movie hit theatres in 2001 and was immensely successful, which led to the second installment a year later and Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After in 2007 and 2010, respectively.
While the Shrek movies were animated, they managed to strike a balance of adult comedy, great music, and hilariously over-the-top characters that hooked fans of all ages to epic adventures and storylines. The movie’s success led to the Puss in Boots franchise, which features three movies, with 2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish receiving critical acclaim from audiences. However, fans are still excited to see Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey on the big screen again. Here is what you need to know about Shrek 5!
Shrek 5 Is Currently in Development
During an interview with Variety. Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri confirmed that together with animated films like Life of Pets 3 and Sing 3, the studio was working on Shrek 5. In 2018, it was announced that Meledandri would collaborate with Dreamworks and Universal to revive the Shrek franchise. Despite all this new information about Shrek 5, there are very few details about the plot direction for the new movie.
In 2017, screenwriter Michael McCuller spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about working on the Shrek 5 script. He said, “Shrek 5 is being developed. I finished that script, which I really, really, really love. It’s really personal to me. It’s got a pretty big reinvention behind it that I guess I can’t really reveal, but since DreamWorks was sold to Universal in that time for over $3 billion, I imagine they’re particularly interested in it stepping up and actually figuring out the future of the franchise in that way on the corporate level. Reinvention was sort of called for. There’s been four movies and a lot of material, so the characters are pretty beloved and they’re great characters, but you also have to think of a pretty new take at that point”. There is no official trailer for Shrek 5, which makes sense because Dreamworks is still working on confirming the voice actors who will be back for the movie.
Regarding the release date, the most reliable information was from Eddie Murphy, who plays Donkey, who said that Shrek 5 would be released in 2020, but there has been no mention of the film since then. The most recent release date information came from a LinkedIn post by an employee at NBC Universal, according to TMZ. NBC Universal is the parent company of Dreamworks, which is working on the upcoming film. The employee spoke about several projects like Despicable Me 4 and Shrek 5. What was more interesting was that she mentioned Shrek 5 could be released in 2025.
Who Will Be Back for Shrek 5?
The original cast features Mike Myers as Shrek, Eddie Murphy as Donkey, Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona, and Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots. Meledandri also confirmed that he wanted to get the original cast back, if possible, for Shrek 5. Myers has shared his enthusiasm for returning to the role and while he didn’t offer any news about a release date, it’s great to know that he will be back on board if the film is to happen. On whether Murphy, who plays Donkey, will be back, Meledandri hinted that Murphy’s character could easily carry a spinoff movie without question, so there could be a possible Donkey movie in the works aside from just Shrek 5 for fans to look forward to.
He said, “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, 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 that negotiations with the actors are going well, and they anticipate the original cast returning because they are all enthusiastic about the upcoming animated film return. Check out this review and analysis of Shrek Forever After
Follow Us
