The Shrek franchise began in 2001, with the introduction of Shrek, Fiona and Donkey. The animation series became a massive hit, where it got its closure in 2010 after the release of its final season ‘Shrek Forever After’.
DreamWorks had desired to make Shrek 5 but couldn’t happen so the tried to let the series live through Puss in the Boots film, but it did not get the popularity that Shrek had. Finally in 2023, DreamWork announced the making of Shrek 5, a 20 year old plan got to action.
The Plot of Shrek 5 was Dated in 2004
It does not mean that plans for Shrek 5 started sometime recently, but the original plan was started in 2004, when DreamWorks executive Jeffrey Katzenberg first talked about it, but later Shrek Forever After gave closure to the animation series.
As per Screen Rant, about Shrek 5 being the initial choice for closing the series, Katzenberg said, “Shrek 3 and 4 are going to reveal other unanswered questions and, finally, in the last chapter, we will understand how Shrek came to be in that swamp, when we meet him in the first movie.” The “last chapter” that Katzenberg is referring to is Shrek 5.
How did ‘Shrek Forever After’ Became the Final Shrek Movie?
Josh Klausner, screenwriter of the Shrek franchise, in an interview with Storylink said that, “When I first came onto the project, it wasn’t supposed to be the final chapter – there were originally going to be 5 Shrek movies.” However, DreamWorks changed the plan during the sequel’s development.
According to Klausner, Shrek Forever After was decided to be the final closure of the franchise one year after the development, where Jeffrey Katzenberg thought, “the story that we’d come up with was the right way for Shrek’s journey to end”, and thus, the doors for Shrek 5 closed.
But few years later, Katzenberg realized that Shrek Forever After was not the ultimate closure to the ultimate animation series and there and then it was decided that Shrek 5 would give the franchise the closure it deserves.
Shrek 5- The Ultimate Closure for the Franchise
Shrek Forever After portrayed Shrek’s journey in a holistic manner but the story and the plot did not square with the expectations of the audience. Thus, Shrek Forever After received lowest box office collection in all Shrek films, which is not what the franchise deserves. Then itself it got decided that the franchise needs Shrek 5 to fulfil the expectations of a grand closure to the legendary animation series.
Also read: Shrek’s Lord Farquaad Height
