With The Super Mario Bros Movie charting a frenetic course to Easter box office dominance, the film's producer Chris Meledandri is already thinking ahead to future projects. Meledandri and his Illumination Entertainment team have cornered the family market in recent years with their blockbusting Despicable Me series and the Minions series of spin-offs.
According to reports, Meledandri is keen to revive DreamWorks' classic Shrek franchise whose most recent legacy instalment came in 2010 with Shrek Forever After. Earlier this year, we were treated to spin-off film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (the movie is still on release at Cineworld), and Meledandri now harbours ambitions to unite all of the original Shrek cast for Shrek 5, reports Variety.
At the very least, this would encompass Mike Myers as Shrek, Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona and Eddie Murphy as Donkey, and one would imagine that Antonio Banderas would be involved as the aforementioned Puss.
“We anticipate the cast coming back," Meledandri said. "Talks are starting now, and every indication that we’ve gotten is there’s tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of the actors to return.”
Released in 2001, Shrek gleefully upended the fairy tale template set down by the likes of Disney and Pixar. Adapted from William Steig's book, it injected riotous meta-humour and quick-fire gags into a potentially formulaic set-up, riding a wave of success that led to an Oscar (the first one specifically created for Best Animated Feature), several theatrically-released sequels and a host of spin-off properties.
Time to fire up the Smash Mouth 'All Star' playlist again? Nothing is officially confirmed yet but fingers crossed that Shrek 5 will become a reality. Hey, if a donkey can fly and talk, it's not that much of a pipe dream, right? Speaking of which, Eddie Murphy's quick-talking sidekick could be in for his own movie.
“They did Puss in Boots movies, they should have [done] a Donkey movie. Donkey is funnier than Puss in Boots,” Murphy told Canadian news site Etalk.
In response, Meledandri said there was “no question” that a Donkey standalone film would be a success, remarking that Murphy’s remark was “very exciting”. Meledandri added: "It’s evidence of his strong enthusiasm for a role that he so brilliantly inhabited and really created alongside the artists at DreamWorks."
Can't wait for Shrek 5 to become a reality? In the meantime, embark on a colorful and exciting journey of adventure in The Super Mario Bros Movie, on release now at Cineworld.
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