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My name is Bradley Gammel, and I'm an avid gamer and lover of cinema. My academic background features an English degree from Oklahoma State, and I am attending Pittsburgh State University as an MBA student.
As The Super Mario Bros. Movie begins its press releases, Illumination’s Chris Meledandri revealed several upcoming projects. Meledandri, the CEO of Illumination and who serves as a creative partner for DreamWorks, discussed the future of these two studios and what fans can expect from their favorite franchises. Some of the biggest news Meledandri shares is from DreamWorks’s hit franchise, Shrek.
Launched with DreamWorks’ 2001 film Shrek, the franchise includes four movies and two Puss in Boots spinoff films; nonetheless, a bright future is coming. Meledandri confirms that a fifth installment will return to everyone’s favorite swamp and more. All this comes after 2022’s successful Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. In addition, Meledandri is campaigning for Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy to reprise their respective roles of Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey. During an interview with Variety promoting The Super Mario Bros. Movie with Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, Meledandri talked about Shrek and other projects.
“It’s not that dissimilar to the process that we went through with ‘Mario,’ where you look at what the core elements are that audiences have loved, and you do your very best to honor those core elements,” Meledandri said. “And then you’re hard at work to build story elements and new characters that take you to brand new places. The original cast is a huge part of that.”
He confirmed that deals have yet to be made, but talks have begun to revisit the beloved franchise. “We anticipate the cast coming back. Talks are starting now, and every indication that we’ve gotten is there’s tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of the actors to return,” said Meledandri.
Not only is Meledandri talking about the future, but legendary comedian and actor Eddie Murphy even talked about his desire to return as Donkey and do spinoff projects.
“If [DreamWorks] ever came with another ‘Shrek,’ I’d do it in two seconds. I love Donkey. They did Puss in Boots movies. I was like, ‘They should have done a Donkey movie.’ Donkey is funnier than Puss in Boots. I mean, I love Puss in Boots, but he ain’t funny as the Donkey.”
Melendandri seemingly agrees with Murphy’s comment and believes in a Donkey standalone feature film. He shared that Donkey “without a doubt” could hold his feature film like Puss in Boots.
The Future of Illumination is Illuminating
Not only was the Shrek franchise discussed during Meledandri’s time with Variety, but so was more upcoming films. The announcements range from a new Secret Life of Pets to more Sing. Meledandri primarily teased about pets and their respective films.
“We’re developing a couple of scripts in ‘The Secret Life of Pets’ world,” he said. “While we’re not ready yet to start a film, we’re absolutely continuing to develop in that franchise.”
The future of The Secret Life of Pets franchise looks like it will follow old characters and some new ones. He confirms that the end will follow past pets and show a new world that has not been shown in the prior two installments. Then Meledandri went into the future of Sing.
Meledandri also teases that Sing 3 is also in early development. Sing 2 made over $400 million and was successful on streaming platforms, which is good news. Since the COVID-19 Omicron variant occurred during the theatrical release of Sing 2, streaming and digital rentals helped make Sing 3 a possibility.
New Projects
Those wanting a taste of Illumination’s future beyond The Super Mario Bros. Movie will receive a treat before the film: a sneak peek at Illumination’s upcoming film Migration will appear before the Nintendo film. Right now, little is known about Migration other than it is written by Mike White, the creator of HBO’s The White Lotus, and directed by Benjamin Renner.
The film will center around a family of ducks living in a New England pond as migration season approaches. The struggle will center around the father wanting to stay in their pond to be safe, seeing that migration is a thing of the past due to warming weather conditions. A sense of exploration and wanting to see the world and life comes from the mother’s side, as she wants their family to see the world. Melendandri addresses the film and how it serves to build original feature films from the studio.
“The film is very beautiful and has a painterly quality that is quite different from anything we’ve done at Illumination,” he said. “The story is told with humor and heart. It’s a remarkably human story with characters who are very relatable and end up wrestling with issues that we all understand, even though they are ducks. And their qualities as ducks are incredibly well executed, from the smallest detail on a feather to their movements and their flight. So it’s a movie that transports you into this world up in the sky, but at the same time it’s very true to who we are.”
Then, Despicable Me and Minions can look forward to a series of shorts in May. The series will premiere on TikTok and, later this year, will be featured on YouTube. Two series will appear on these platforms, and fans of this franchise and its spinoff can enjoy them for free. Needless to say that fans of animation and Illumination will be treated rather nicely in 2023 and beyond.
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Source: Variety
My name is Bradley Gammel, and I'm an avid gamer and lover of cinema. My academic background features an English degree from Oklahoma State, and I am attending Pittsburgh State University as an MBA student.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.