It's been a while since we've heard about the development of Shrek 5, a movie that has been in talks for a long while, as we were reporting on it as early as three years ago. This week, The Boss Baby screenwriter Michael McCullers revealed that he has finished up the script for Shrek 5, which means the project is further along than fans may have been expecting. In addition, McCullers revealed that if and when Shrek 5 finally gets made, it's going to be different than other iterations of the franchise. Here's what he had to say:
I finished that script which I really, really, really love. It's really personal to me. It's got a pretty big reinvention behind it that I guess I can't really reveal, but since DreamWorks was sold to Universal in that time for over $3 billion, I imagine they're particularly interested in it stepping up and actually figuring out the future of the franchise in that way on the corporate level. Reinvention was sort of called for. There [have] 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.
Shrek 5 still sounds like it is in the fairly early stages of development, but what we know from Michael McCullers' comments is that there is a script that people have looked at. In addition, we now know that script will take the franchise in a totally new direction. When last we left the Shrek universe, Shrek was a family man who made a mistaken deal with Rumpelstiltskin to send him to alternate reality, where he has been erased from the timeline. In the end, the original timeline was restored and everything was happy between Fiona and Shrek and their family once again. It's hard to know what else there might be to explore in that storyline, especially considering it has been a while since Shrek Forever After came out back in 2010. Perhaps pivoting to a different character--maybe even Fiona and Shrek's kids now older kids?--might be that route.
Of course, Michael McCullers is not ready to reveal where the upcoming movie is going, per his comments to THR. But he does say a lot about the DreamWorks sale and that Universal is working really hard to figure out how to kick off a fifth film that will also work to reinvision the entire future of the Shrek movies. Which means Shrek 5 may not be the only Shrek movie that is eventually on the way.
As for Shrek 5, the last big news we heard on the movie-making front prior to these script comments came from Eddie Murphy, who said we could be looking for the next installment in 2019 or 2020. As of now, that potential timeframe could still hold up. We'll let you know as soon as Shrek 5 officially gets off of the ground. In the meantime, you can take a look at what movies are coming way sooner with our full movies premiere schedule.
