Universal and Illumination founder and CEO, Chris Meledandri are taking a nostalgic walk down memory with a plan to give ‘Shrek’ and the ‘Puss in Boots’ spin-off a minor reboot.

Whilst the aim is to reboot the franchise to appeal to a whole new generation, Meledandri hopes to bring back some of the original voice cast. It was the cast of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas that made the green ogre and friends so palatable.

In hoping to bring the band back together, Meledandri told Variety

When you look back on those vocal performances they’re awesome, and while you certainly could make a case for a complete reinvention, I find myself responding to my own nostalgic feelings of wanting to go back to those characterizations,” explains Meledandri. “The challenge for us has been to find something that really does feel like it’s not simply yet another film in a series of sequels.

Also in the news – ‘Paddington’ – director Paul King’s franchise future in doubt

Based on the fairytale picture book by William Steig, Shrek burst onto the big screen in 2001. Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson made their directorial debut on the Dreamworks animation which also starred the voices of John Lithgow as well as Meyers, Murphy and Diaz.
It went on to spawn three sequels, ‘Shrek 2’, ‘Shrek the Third’, ‘Shrek Forever After’ and delve into Puss’s own spin-off ‘Puss in Boots’ as well as holiday specials ‘Shrek The Halls’ and ‘Scared Shrekless’. 
The franchise fell into the hands of Universal and Illumination after parent company Comcast bought Dreamworks Animation for $3.8 billion in 2016.
 
Illumination’s next picture, The Grinch is released on November 9th.