If you’re a fan of the “Shrek” movies, get excited: Your favorite green ogre may return to the big screen soon. A fifth installment in the series is in development, and negotiations to bring back the original cast are underway.
During a recent interview with Variety about the upcoming “Super Marios Bros. Movie,” Chris Meledandri — CEO of Illumination and a creative partner to DreamWorks, the animation studio that launched the “Shrek” franchise back in 2001 — confirmed plans for the sequel. When it comes to casting the film, he mentioned the importance of bringing back Mike Myers (Shrek), Cameron Diaz (Fiona), Eddie Murphy (Donkey) and Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots) to voice the iconic characters.
“We anticipate the cast coming back,” Meledandri told Variety. “Talks are starting now, and every indication that we’ve gotten is there’s tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of the actors to return.”
Mike Myers talked about his willingness to play the famed green ogre again in a video interview with GQ in May 2022.
“I love playing Shrek,” Myers said. “If I had to do one Shrek a year, I’d be thrilled.”
Meanwhile, Eddie Murphy also declared his enthusiasm for returning to the role of Donkey just a few months ago in an interview with Etalk.
“If they ever came with another ‘Shrek,’ I’d do it in two seconds, I love Donkey,” he said in the video interview.
The fifth “Shrek” movie has been in the works for at least five years. Screenwriter Michael McCullers told The Hollywood Reporter back in 2017 that he finished a script for the project, which goes in a different direction than people might expect.
“It’s really personal to me. It’s got a pretty big reinvention behind it that I guess I can’t really reveal…” he told THR. “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.”
What will happen with Shrek and Fiona next? We’ll have to wait and see.
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