Shrek 5 Is Finally Happening, But Is Mike Myers Returning?
Shrek 5 is coming from Illumination with no official announcements regarding the voice cast.
Illumination studios have an incredibly busy schedule planned ahead of them, rivaling that of a Marvel phase. According to a write up in Variety, founder and CEO of Illumination Chris Meledandri has big plans for the animation studio, with the upcoming Super Mario Bros. movie marking just the beginning of their next chapter. According to Meledandri, the studio has sequels planned for the Despicable Me franchise, as well as The Secret Life of Pets, and Shrek 5.
This confirmation of the long awaited Shrek 5 has sparked a number of discussions online, begging the studio for answers regarding which actors will reprise their roles from the previous films, and even what art and animation style the film will have. When Illumination first purchased the rights to produce new Shrek films, many fans were concerned that future installments of the series would feature art similar to Despicable Me, with the titular ogre’s green skin slapped over the skinny legged model of Felonius Gru. Of course, with the recent visually stunning arrival of Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, fans have finally received some insight into how the iconic characters would be handled by the Sing studio.
While no casting announcements have been made at this time, Meledandri has stated that he’d like to see a return of the original voice cast, including Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots. Negotiations have allegedly begun to get the voice cast back on board, though it has been over a decade since the previous installment in the series, 2010’s Shrek Forever After. Of course, Eddie Murphy has famously stated that he would happily return to the franchise to work on Shrek 5, as he thoroughly enjoys voicing Donkey, even going so far as to say that Donkey should receive his own spinoff film in place of Puss in Boots.
Chris Meledandri has expressed interest in possibly producing a Donkey spinoff film after wrapping on Shrek 5, potentially shedding some light on the mysterious origins of the fast-talking, waffle-cooking Equidae. With recent legacy sequels to films such as Dolemite and Coming To America, as well as an upcoming sequel to the Beverly Hills Cop series, Eddie Murphy seems to be in incredibly high demand amongst nostalgia circles. Meanwhile, Mike Myers is said to be producing a fourth installment of the Austin Powers franchise, displaying his willingness to return to iconic characters from his past.
Mike Meyers has voiced Shrek since the character’s first film outing in 2001, after taking over the role from the late Saturday Night Live alumni Chris Farley. Returning to the character for Shrek 5 would be Myers’ 14th IMDb credit for the character, spanning four feature films, a series of Dreamworks shorts, and several cameo appearances and special features performances. Myers last voiced Shrek in a 2017 installment of DreamWorks Shrek’s Swamp Stories, an anthology series including features such as Far Far Away Idol with guest voice Simon Cowell.
With Shrek 5 just around the corner, fans will surely be on the edge of their seats awaiting casting announcements and potential spinoff news.
