In the cinematic age of sequels, there is one series above all that fans have been begging to see revived, and it just might be happening.
Despite its last two entries being far weaker than the first two, the Shrek franchise is perhaps one of the most beloved animated film series of all time, thanks in no small part to the ‘memefication’ of the series. The hilarious, satirical spin on traditional fairy tales charmed audiences, and the original film is still considered to be one of Mike Myers’ and Eddie Murphy’s best.
In a recent interview with Variety to discuss the upcoming Super Mario Bros movie, Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri spoke about his plans to revive the Shrek franchise, including bringing back the original cast!
“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.”
-Chris Meledandri
Considering this is the CEO of the animation studio, and given the recent success of the Shrek spinoff Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, there is a very high chance the new sequel could come to fruition. While no official deals have been made or contracts signed, Meledandri did add:
“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.”
-Chris Meledandri
Originally based on the 1990 book by William Steig, the first film was released way back in 2001, starring Mike Myers as the titular ogre, Eddie Murphy as Donkey and Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona. Since 01, the series has seen the release of three sequels (Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, and Shrek Forever After), two Puss in Boots spinoff films (Puss in Boots and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), as well as various tv shows, video games and theme park rides.
Naturally, no release date has been announced yet, but it will be covered here on Show Faves the moment it is.
