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A new Shrek project is coming, but some think it goes ogre the line

Is a reboot of the franchise a monstrous idea?

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
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DreamWorks

Illumination Entertainment founder Chris Meledandri says he's planning to revamp Universal's Shrek and Puss 'n' Boots franchises, according to a Variety interview published Tuesday.

Meledandri doesn't want to change the successful franchises too much, he said, and hopes to keep the voice cast of the popular films, which includes Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas.

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"When you look back on those vocal performances they're awesome, and while you certainly could make a case for a complete reinvention, I find myself responding to my own nostalgic feelings of wanting to go back to those characterizations," he told Variety. "The challenge for us has been to find something that really does feel like it's not simply yet another film in a series of sequels."

A source confirmed that "a Shrek project is in development at DreamWorks Animation." Meledandri oversees DreamWorks and Illumination, which are both owned by Universal.

But not all fans think Shrek needs a cinema shakeup. And others think that if the original cast is back, it's not even a shakeup to begin with.

Illumination Entertainment, founded by Meledandri in 2007, is most famous for its Minions films. That worries some, who don't think the Illumination style lends itself to the Shrek swamp.

It's unclear how this news is different from plans for Shrek 5. As of 2017, that film supposedly had a completed script, and reinvention of the series, maybe with a focus on Shrek and Fiona's kids, was already being talked about.

No date or title was announced for a new Shrek film, but it seems 2020 would be the earliest possible.