Shrek 5 is coming closer to reality - if it can help spur NBCUniversal's budding theme park expansion.
NBCUniversal boss Steve Burke told investors on Tuesday (June 14) that the newly-acquired DreamWorks Animation has set a goal of releasing four new animated movies each year.
That goal - a 50% increase from DreamWorks Animation's current two-films-per-year - has been set to develop characters popular enough to spin off individual Universal Studios theme park attractions and merchandise opportunities.
NBC Universal and Comcast are putting Despicable Me and Minions production company Illumination Entertainment in charge of "helping us figure out how to resurrect Shrek and take a lot of the existing DreamWorks franchises and add value as we create new franchises" (via Deadline).
News of a fifth Shrek film comes two years after DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg hinted that there was "another chapter" of the story waiting to be made.
Shrek Forever After, the most recent instalment in the series, made more than $750 million at the worldwide box office back in 2010.
Night News Editor
Justin has been with Digital Spy since 2010, and in that time, has covered countless major news events for DS from the US.
He has worked previously as both a reporter and sub editor for the brand, prior to taking on the position of Night News Editor in 2016.
Over more than a decade, he has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. As a US contributor to Digital Spy, Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo.
