The movie industry is still dealing with the catastrophic box office effects of the pandemic. However, Chris Meledandri (founder and CEO of Illumination) is still juggling his juggling act to keep churning out new movies.
Last year, it was Illumination who managed to launch the highest-grossing animated film of 2022: Minions, the origin of Gru. The company’s next release, Super Mario Bros. The Movie, also looks set to generate a good amount of money, but for its CEO it’s not enough. Meledandri also wants to bring back Shrek.
In addition to being a founder of Illumination, Meledandri is also a creative partner at DreamWorks Animation. In recent statements to Variety, the executive has expressed his intention to bring out a new Shrek movie with its original cast (Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy).
Although no deal is in place yet, Meledandri said that negotiations are going well: “We hope the original cast will return. Talks are starting now, and all indications are that there is enormous enthusiasm on their part to return.”
Reasons to be optimistic are not lacking. After the recent success of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, he stated in January that “if DreamWorks were to bring out another Shrek movie, I would do it immediately.” In addition, he also dropped the possibility of bringing some other spin-off based on the saga: “They should have made a Donkey movie, […] I mean, I love Puss in Boots, but it’s not as funny as Donkey”. And when asked if he saw the possibility of an installment centered on the character, his answer was “without a doubt”.
Illumination is currently working on the screenplays for Mascots 3 and Sing! 3, which is currently in production. At the moment, the most recent release we have from the company is Super Mario Bros. The Movie, which will be released on April 7.
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