Background
After the success of Shrek 2 in May 2004, DreamWorks Animation (DWA) CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg planned a five-film arc that began with Shrek (2001) and would conclude with a fifth installment. [5] After the release of Shrek the Third in 2007, Katzenberg announced that the fifth film would be released in 2013. [6]
In May 2009, DreamWorks announced that the fourth film's title would be Shrek Forever After , indicating that it would be the last in the Shrek series. [7] Later in 2009, that was confirmed by Bill Damaschke, the former head of creative production at DWA, with him saying: "All that was loved about Shrek in the first film is brought to the final film". [8] Josh Klausner, one of the writers of Shrek Forever After, explained in 2010 the script's evolution: "When I first came onto the project, it wasn't supposed to be the final chapter — there were originally going to be five Shrek movies. Then, about a year into the development, Jeffrey Katzenberg decided that the story that we'd come up with was the right way for Shrek's journey to end, which was incredibly flattering". [9]
In February 2014, during an interview with Fox Business, Katzenberg hinted that a fifth film may still be made: "We like to let them have a little bit of time to rest", he said of the characters. "But I think you can be confident that we'll have another chapter in the Shrek series. We're not finished, and more importantly, neither is he". [10]
Development
In June 2016, after NBCUniversal purchased DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, NBCUniversal chief Steve Burke discussed plans to revive the Shrek franchise, as well as other DreamWorks films. [11] [12] In July 2016, The Hollywood Reporter cited sources saying that the fifth film was planned for a 2019 release. [13] In September 2016, Eddie Murphy confirmed that the film was expected to be released in 2019 or 2020, and that the script had been completed. [14] The original story for the film was written by Michael McCullers, based on his own idea. [15] [16] When asked about the script for a fifth Shrek film in March 2017, McCullers said it featured "a pretty big reinvention" for the film series. [17]
In November 2018, it was reported by Variety that Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri had been tasked to be one of the executive producers of both the untitled Shrek film and the spin-off film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish , with the original cast potentially returning. [18] [19] [20] In December 2022, Antonio Banderas reiterated that a new Shrek film was still in development. [21] [22] [23] The film was teased in the mid-credits scene of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with Puss returning to Far, Far Away. [24] In April 2023, Meledandri confirmed a fifth Shrek film was in development, with the original cast—Murphy, Mike Myers, and Cameron Diaz—in negotiations to reprise their roles. [25] Meledandri said the filmmakers would "look at what the core elements are that audiences have loved" and try to "honor those elements" in a similar vein to Illumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie . [26]
In June 2024, while promoting his film Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F , Murphy confirmed that he had started recording his lines for the film a couple of months earlier, [27] expecting it to be released sometime in 2025. [28] In July 2024, DreamWorks announced that the film, tentatively titled Shrek 5, with Myers, Murphy, and Diaz confirmed to reprise their roles. [29] Walt Dohrn, who previously served as a story artist on Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third , as well as the head of story and voice of Rumpelstiltskin in Shrek Forever After , was also attached to direct, with Illumination's Minions: The Rise of Gru co-director Brad Ableson co-directing and Gina Shay co-producing with Meledandri. [3] In January 2025, it was announced that Conrad Vernon, who previously co-directed Shrek 2 and voiced Gingerbread Man in the previous films, also returned to direct the film alongside Dohrn. [30] In late February 2025, it was revealed that Zendaya had joined the cast, as Shrek and Fiona's daughter Felicia. [4]
