Dreamworks Hires Producer Of 'Despicable Me' To Rework 'Shrek' Franchise

Image from Geek Tyrant

By Darian Scalamoni

            Add this to the list of things we don’t necessarily need. According to Variety, Chris Meledandri, who’s the mind behind the Despicable Me franchise has been hired to reboot Shrek but it’s not as concrete as it the term “reboot” dictates.

            Dreamworks hired Meledandri to figure out a way to reintroduce Shrek to a new generation of moviegoers, which makes sense given the four original Shrek films along with the spin-off, Puss in Boots have totaled $3.5 billion. However, Meledandri said he would love to bring back Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas to return to their iconic vocal characters which would make the term reboot seem like a stretch. Maybe a rework would be a better word to describe what he has up his sleeve.

            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 explains. “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.”

            This sounds like what was just done with the “reboot-quel” of Halloween which was just released. The question is, will Meledandri have the right idea to get everyone to jump back into stories following our favorite ogre? I’d be on board maybe at a way later date but we’re still only seven years removed from Puss in Boots, so I believe they should give it some time before reintroducing us to our big green friend.