As Oscar-nominated Puss In Boots 2: The Last Wish slices up the box office, a fairy tale ending for Shrek 5 begins to look inevitable. DreamWorks’ Shrek franchise is a classic case of diminishing returns. 2001’s original Shrek was nothing short of a delight for adults and children alike, playfully twisting the established norms of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. Shrek 2 released to slightly less enthusiasm in 2004, before Shrek The Third, Shrek Forever After, and, to a lesser extent, the original Puss In Boots spinoff all failed to recapture that early DreamWorks magic.
With Puss In Boots landing in 2011, the Shrek franchise has stayed dormant for over a decade, even though the feline spinoff was a box office success and reviewed warmly. The ogre and the pussycat reunited in development hell, as Shrek 5 and Puss In Boots 2 both struggled to gain momentum amid directorial changes for the latter. Finally, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish released in December 2022 and, somewhat surprisingly given the prevailing perception that the Shrek franchise’s best days are behind it, has left critics purring. Even so, it’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish‘s box office haul that will be of most interest to Shrek 5.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish Is A Box Office Success
At the time of writing, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish has grossed over $250 million at the global box office. Despite a less-than-spectacular start, the sequel found a few extra lives, buoyed by positive word-of-mouth, strong reviews and a high Rotten Tomatoes score for Puss In Boots 2. After a significant domestic boost in its second week of release behind Avatar: The Way of Water, subsequent drop-offs have proven remarkably low, with the Antonio Banderas-voiced cat holding his ground well in other territories also.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish looks unlikely to match the box office haul of its more expensive predecessor, but considering how the theatrical release landscape has morphed since 2011, with the pandemic, the rise of streaming, and ticket prices all impacting audience behavior, DreamWorks can feel satisfied with its return on Puss In Boots: The Last Wish‘s $90 million budget. Glancing at other 2022 animated movie releases – the likes of Lightyear, Strange World, DC League of Super-Pets and DreamWorks’ own The Bad Guys – Puss In Boots: The Last Wish got the cream. An early release on Amazon Prime Video makes the swashbuckling sequel’s achievements even more impressive.
Shrek 5 Would Surely Be Even Bigger Than Puss In Boots 2
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish‘s combination of glowing reviews and strong box office surely means DreamWorks will be taking a closer look at Shrek 5, now 13 years in the making. The spinoff sequel not only proves more additions to the Shrek franchise would be a commercially viable strategy, the encouraging critical acclaim signals that Mike Myers’ grumpy green swamp-dweller and his eclectic band of fairy tale friends still offer creative merit. Better still for DreamWorks, any late Shrek 5 movie stands a strong chance of performing even better than Puss In Boots: The Last Wish.
Renowned though the ginger critter may be, his brand recognition still pales in comparison to Shrek’s, who has retained his status as a pop culture icon despite a series of middling movie releases. Even when not at his best, Shrek still trounced his furry feline friend at the box office, with 2010’s Shrek Forever After grossing approximately $200 million more than the following year’s Puss In Boots spinoff. Assuming that trend holds over a decade later, Shrek 5 looks like a safe bet now that Puss In Boots: The Last Wish has tested the waters.
Additionally, the return of Shrek after such a long cinematic hiatus would demand attention and headlines far beyond anything Puss in Boots can muster. Releasing four Shrek franchise movies in a ten-year span may have left audiences with their fill of animated fantasy shenanigans, but long enough has passed for the desire to return. If Shrek can reinvigorate himself in the same way Puss in Boots has, Shrek 5 would be a comeback worthy of its own volume.
When Could Shrek 5 Happen?
Updates on Shrek 5 have been few and far between, but the proposed sequel would not be starting from scratch. In 2017, writer Michael McCullers confirmed that a script for Shrek 5 had been finished, although little has been heard since. If, theoretically speaking, DreamWorks accelerated production on Shrek 5 immediately as a result of Puss In Boots: The Last Wish‘s success, 2025 would still be a relatively optimistic prediction for a release date.
With no updates on the future of the Shrek movie franchise to speak of, however, that time frame could easily extend into 2026 and beyond – especially if DreamWorks decides not to move forward with the Michael McCullers Shrek 5 script that is already in place. Animation and voice performances are time-consuming enough, but writing a script from scratch – and sitting on a completed one for six years means that possibility cannot be discounted – would take significantly longer. Shrek 5 may take forever after all, despite the success enjoyed by Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
Puss In Boots 2 Has Oscar Success, Not Just Box Office Success
The Puss In Boots 2 box office is just one of many ways to measure the movie’s success for a studio. Studios and producers are also interested in critical success and award show success, and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish has both. Critics have been loving the story and animation in the movie. It’s also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. Shrek won the first Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2001, while Shrek 2 and Puss In Boots were both nominated, but didn’t win. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish could therefore mark not only a turn in box office success for animated movies in 2022, but also a turn in awards recognition for the Shrek franchise.
