The standout box office success for Pixar’s Finding Dory this weekend points to nostalgic audience hungry for animation sequels that harken back to their youth. Might there then be a golden opportunity for a new installment in the beloved Shrek franchise? Deadline reports that NBCUniversal chief Steve Burke is open to just that.
Speaking to investors last Tuesday, Deadline quotes Burke as saying “[Chris Meledandri, Illumination Entertainment founder and CEO] is creatively going to try to help us figure out how to resurrect Shrek and take a lot of the existing DreamWorks franchises and add value as we create new franchises.” Illumination has been a frequent partner to NBCUniversal over the last decade in producing animated family features. NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation earlier this year.
2001’s Shrek, with voice stars Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy, was a mega-hit, bringing in $484 million worldwide. 2004’s Shrek 2 and 2007’s Shrek the Third outperformed the original at the global box office, bringing in $919 million and $798 million respectively. 2010’s Shrek Forever After, the last Shrek film, brought in $752 million worldwide. A spin-off on a Shrek character, Puss in Boots voiced by Antonio Banderas, came out in 2011.
We will bring you updates as plans for the sequel to Shrek Forever After solidify, but there is one thing the new installment’s title will need to address – what comes after Forever After?
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