In a move that shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with the recent problems at DreamWorks Animation, its biggest moneymaker is to be revived.
Yep, Shrek is coming back. NBCUniversal chief Steve Burke has been quoted by Deadline as saying that he wants to increase the animation house’s output from the current plans for two films a year to four.
Burke furthermore reportedly told investors that the hope is to produce franchises, not just movies, that will produce relatively low-margin feature films and turn them into more profitable ventures. You know, like theme park attractions, TV spinoffs and endless, endless amounts of merchandise. So if you’ve ever felt the need to own a Shrek talking toilet seat, you might just be in luck.
Shrek is currently the twelfth highest-grossing movie franchise. It consists of four movies, a Puss in Boots spinoff and several shorts and specials produced for TV and DVD. Exactly how this will impact the Puss in Boots sequel, Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives and 40 Thieves, is anyone’s guess. This was originally slated for release last year but was pulled when DreamWorks Animation was restructured to only produce two films a year. Its current status is unknown and no new release date has been announced yet.
More news on Hollywood’s latest bodysnatching exercise as and when we know it.
Source: Comic Book.com
Dave Bowling
Dave was born at an early age to parents of both sexes. He has been a self-confessed geek for as long as he can remember, having been raised through the 80s on a steady diet of Doctor Who, Star Trek, Red Dwarf and (sigh) Knight Rider. Throw the usual assortment of Saturday morning cartoons into the mix and we have something quite exceptional: someone with an encyclopaedic knowledge of utter tosh; a love of giant robots and spaceships fighting; and the strange desire to leap tall buildings in a single bound while wearing his underpants over his trousers. The death ray is currently in the works and one day you shall all bow to him, his giant space station and fleet of funky orange space shuttles...
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