Comcast, the corporation that owns NBCUniversal, bought DreamWorks for nearly $4 billion back in April of last year. It wasn’t long before they’d announced plans to pump out up to four animated films a year under their newly acquired banner, including another entry in the Shrek franchise. With Shrek 5 still targeting a 2019 release date, screenwriter Michael McCullers has commented on Universal’s plans for the sequel.
Speaking withThe Hollywood Reporter, McCullers said, “I finished that script which I really, really, really love. It’s really personal to me.” He went on to say that Universal is looking towards the future of the franchise, which means Shrek 5 will have “a pretty big reinvention behind it.” “Reinvention was sort of called for,” he added. “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.”
McCullers was tightlipped on exactly what change of direction Universal is considering, so we’ll have to wait another two years to see what form it takes. There’s also no word yet on whether the stars of the previous four films — Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy — will return for the new movie, but it would be pretty hard to imagine a Shrek without them. The last adventure of the ogre clan was in 2010’s Shrek Forever After.
McCullers, meanwhile, has Boss Baby now in theaters and is also working on Hotel Transylvania 3.
