It’s always sad for me when a franchise I enjoy takes a drastic turn for the worse. Shrek 3 was just one of the “three-quels” this summer that shattered me, but it was the one that most surprised me with it’s lack of quality. Pirates and Spider-Man are difficult franchises, and it’s not hard to screw them up… causing even a great director like Sam Raimi to have a bad outting. But Shrek (of the 3 big threequels) was the one that should have been the easiest to pull off. Shrek 3 didn’t need to have a great plot or fantastic pacing or even high adventure. All it needed to do was just continue to be as charming and funny as the first 2… nothing too complex… nothing too daring. The strength of the franchise lay in its charm. But they screwed it up. Shame.
Anyway, no matter how bad Shrek 3 was, the fact of the matter is that it has made over $700 million world wide… which automatically means Shrek 4. Yahoo News gives us this:
DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures have penciled in May 21, 2010, as the release date for the fourth adventure of the not so jolly green giant and his fairy-tale friends. Shortly after the latest installment debuted, DreamWorks cochair Jeffrey Katzenberg confirmed plans for not only a fourth, tentatively titled The Next Shrek, but a fifth Shrek, now slated for 2013.
So no surprises here. Apparently the primary voice cast are all signed on for parts 4 and 5 as well. The (slightly) interesting question is what does this do to the Puss In Boots solo film? It was slated for 2010… but not to go into production until AFTER Shrek 4. Now that Shrek 4 is set for 2010, what does this do to Puss? Or… does anyone care?
