It has been 6 long years sinceShrek Forever Afterdebuted in theaters, and it will be another three before the next installment debuts. But it has been comforted today thatShrek 5will be in theaters sometime in2019. An exact date hasn’t been announced, and it isn’t known if this will be a big summer release or if it will be saved for the holidays.
It was reported earlier today byThe Hollywood Reporterthat Universal and DreamWorks plan to start releasing two DreamWorks Animation movies a year, every year, for the foreseeable future. And theShrekfranchise has been one of the studio’s most lucrative. So it makes sense that after some time away from this colorful fairy tale land, they’d want to return to catch up with Shrek, Fiona,Donkey, Puss N Boots and all their friends. The original movie, which arrived in 2001, was an instant smash, and spawned three more sequels plus thePuss n Bootsspinoff.
Following the disappointing box office turns forRise of the GuardiansandMr. Peabody and Sherman, DreamWorks Animation had to seriously shuffle their slate around. But with NBCUnivesral acquiring the animation studio earlier this year, the team is eager to bring forth even more franchise sequels and get the company back up to the standards it set over 15 years ago. The 2019 slate not only includesShrek 5, but will also include the previously announced animated movieShadows, which marks cult favorite director Edgar Wright’s first foray into the medium. He will be working alongside David Williams.
Universal and DreamWorks are working to balance out original projects with sequels and spinoffs as they move into the future. Also on the future slate isTrollsandBoss Babyalong withThe Croods 2andHow to Train Your Dragon 3. If the new movies are well received, it will help DreamWorks Animation establish even more franchises for the future.
At this time, no plot details have been revealed forShrek 5. At one point, it was rumored to be acompete rebootof theFairy taleseries.Shrek Forever After, which found Shrek trapped in an alternate timeline after a deal with Rumpelstiltskin goes sour, was promoted by DreamWorks Animation as the final film in the series. It isn’t clear exactly how the saga would attempt to reboot itself. It’s clear that there will probably be moreShrekmovies after this next one, so we probably won’t see it marketed as the ‘final’ movie a second time.
