“Shrek 5” could be on its way very soon.
Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri confirmed the exciting news during a chat with Variety ahead of the release of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”.
Meledandri, who also serves as a creative partner to DreamWorks Animation, said there had been early talks with the film’s original voice cast; which includes Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy.
Meledandri shared, “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 honour 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.”
Despite there being no deals in place just yet, Meledandri insisted, “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.”
READ MORE: Al Pacino Responds To Those Viral ‘Shrek’ Phone-Case Photos
Meledandri’s comments come after Murphy, who voices Donkey, said earlier this year following the success of 2022’s “Shrek” spinoff “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”: “If [DreamWorks] ever came with another ‘Shrek’, I’d do it in two seconds. I love Donkey.
“They did ‘Puss in Boots’ movies. I was like, ‘They should have done a Donkey movie.’ Donkey is funnier than Puss in Boots. I mean, I love Puss in Boots, but he ain’t funny as the Donkey.”
READ MORE: Mike Myers Brings Back Shrek Voice In Viral Scene From ‘The Pentaverate’
Meledandri told Variety of Murphy’s comments, “It’s evidence of his strong enthusiasm for a role that he so brilliantly inhabited and really created alongside the artists at DreamWorks. I found that comment to be very exciting.”
He then said of whether he thought Donkey could have his own film like Puss in Boots, “Without question.”
