It was on the occasion of the launch of his latest film
Super Mario Bros
that Chris Meledandri confided in
Variety
on the future of Shrek.
The boss of Illumination studios (
Despicable Me)
also produced with Dreamworks
Puss in Boots 2: The Last Quest
, released last December.
A spin-off that was a great success both commercially ($478.7 million at the worldwide box office) and critically.
And it's partly this success that made it possible to relaunch the Dreamworks machine, ready to set the stage again thirteen years after the last film
Shrek
.
According to him, the return of the original cast is in talks:
“The original cast is an essential element.
Negotiations are starting right now and from what we've heard, the cast has shown great enthusiasm to return."
This is particularly the case of Eddy Murphy who lends his voice to Donkey.
“If (Dreamworks) ever came back with another Shrek, I would accept in two seconds.
I love Donkey
,” the actor confessed to
Variety
last January.
We already know that the donkey will have a different voice in French since Med Hondo, who doubled Eddy Murphy, died in 2019.
Read alsoShrek will return in a fifth film signed by the creator of Despicable Me
And a spin-off on Donkey?
The producer also backed the idea of a possible film centering on Shrek's best friend, who would "
definitely
" make a great spin-off character.
An idea already suggested by Eddy Murphy
“They should have made a film about the donkey.
I love Puss in Boots, but he's not as funny as my character,”
he said.
While waiting for a film dedicated to the Donkey and his strap, fans of the saga can already rejoice in this news.
Even if we don't yet know what the film will be about, Chris Meledandri revealed some clues:
"The process is not so different from the one we chose to follow for
Mario
, which consists of finding the basic elements, those that form the core, what fans loved, and do our best to honor that.
Then we work hard to build story elements and new characters that take us to new places.
For the moment, no release date has been communicated.
