Warning: contains spoilers for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Shrek fans have been waiting for news of a fifth Shrek movie since Shrek Forever After landed back in 2010 – and it may finally have come, via a pre-credits sting at the end of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
The movie ends with three of its characters sailing off, not into the sunset, but towards a landmass signposted ‘Far Far Away’. That’s the home, of course, of Shrek, Princess Fiona and Donkey, and the setting of all four Shrek movies to date.
Hollywood loves a sequel-baiting outro – Marvel has built an entire storytelling dynasty on them – but how much can be read into this DreamWorks tease?
Plenty, judging by Puss in Boots star Antonio Banderas’s recent comments on the likelihood of a fifth Shrek outing. ‘There is probably gonna be another,’ he told the Red Sea Film Festival (via Deadline) in December, ‘and [Shrek] is probably coming back.’
The idea of a fifth Shrek film has been floating around since 2004 when then-producer Jeffrey Katzenberg revealed that there was a five-film story outline in place for the franchise. Shrek 5 was scheduled for a 2019 release date, with Eddie Murphy, who voices Donkey, claiming that a script was in existence.
Since then, though, there’s been little further news of a further entry to a franchise that has grossed nearly $3 billion in total. Does the ending of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish mean that it’s all on again?
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is out in the UK on Friday, February 3.
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