One of the most popular animated franchises ever could be returning, with Illumination’s Chris Meledandri teasing that Shrek 5 is in the works.
Speaking to Variety, Meledandri — who is Illumination’s founder and CEO and also serves as a creative partner to DreamWorks Animation — teased that a Shrek 5 was in development and revealed what has gone on in the process of getting a new Shrek film off the ground.
“It’s not that dissimilar to the process that we went through with [The Super Mario Bros. Movie] 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. “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.”
Of course, details are sparse right now, but Meledandri did reveal that he wants the full original cast of the Shrek films back and that negotiations with them are underway right now, and he believes everyone is just as enthusiastic about returning as he is.
“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,” said Meledandri.
Meledandri also commented on a recent interview Eddie Murphy did, where he said he’d love to participate in a Donkey-based spin-off film. According to Meledandri, Donkey is “without question” a character that could support its own spin-off, although nothing more was said on that front.
Following Shrek Forever After‘s release in 2010, the Shrek franchise has leaned more into the other characters featured in Shrek franchise for future movies and projects. Specifically, Puss in Boots has received two movies (2011’s Puss in Boots and 2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), as well as a brief television series, The Adventures of Puss in Boots.