Shrek: Octomania

Shrek: Octomania is an upcoming American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation, Ducapark Studios, Hyperobject Industries, and Lord Miller Productions, and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to Shrek Forever After and Scooby-Doo: Yoshi's Weirdmageddon, and a spin-off to Unknown (2003). It is directed by James Ryan (in his feature directorial debut), co-directed by Philip Craven, written by Conrad Vernon, and stars the voices of Jack Black (replacing Mike Myers as the voice of Shrek), Antonio Banderas (reprising his role as Puss in Boots), Seth Rogen (reprising his role as Bob the Viking from the 2022 film "Hefty and the Minions"), Eddie Murphy (reprising his role as Donkey), Melissa McCarthy (replacing Cameron Diaz as the voice of Fiona), Jeff Goldblum, and Jenny Slate (reprising her role as Dawn Bellweather from the 2015 film "The Hunchback of Happy Feet: Simba's Bully").

Shrek: Octomania is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on August 4, 2023, by Universal Pictures.

Premise
Taking place four years after Shrek Forever After, Shrek feels guilty for Puss burning through eight of his nine lives, so He, Puss, Donkey, and Fiona set out on a journey to the mystical Wishing Octopus to get Puss’ lives back while escaping Bellwether, Bob the Viking, and Smaug who plan to hunt them down.

Cast

 * Jack Black as Shrek. He was originally voiced by Mike Myers in the first four films.
 * Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots, a cat hero and feline soldier.
 * Seth Rogen as Bob the Viking Warrior Dwarf, A highly trained viking and assassin who is hunting Puss for his supposed role of defending the universe.
 * Eddie Murphy as Donkey
 * Melissa McCarthy as Fiona. She was originally voiced by Cameron Diaz in the first four films.
 * Jeff Goldblum as Smaug, Bob’s dad, and a bounty-hunting dragon
 * Jenny Slate as Dawn Bellwether, an anthropomorphic sheep business widow who seeks revenge on Puss for crashing the B.R.A.

Development
Following the success of Shrek 2 in May 2004, Jeffrey Katzenberg revealed that the Shrek story had been outlined into five films almost from the beginning. "Before the first one was finished we talked about what the whole story of Shrek is, and each of the chapters answers questions about the first movie and gives us an insight," said Katzenberg. "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." After the release of Shrek the Third in 2007, Katzenberg announced that the fifth film would be released in 2013.

In May 2009, DreamWorks Animation announced that the fourth film's title would be Shrek Forever After, indicating that it would be the last in the Shrek series. Later in 2009, that was confirmed by Bill Damaschke, head of creative production at DWA, with him saying: "All that was loved about Shrek in the first film is brought to the final film."

Josh Klausner, one of the writers of Shrek Forever After, explained in 2010 the script's evolution: "When I first came onto the project, it wasn't supposed to be the final chapter — there were originally going to be five Shrek movies. Then, about a year into the development, Jeffrey Katzenberg decided that the story that we'd come up with was the right way for Shrek's journey to end."

In February 2014, in an interview with Fox Business Network, Katzenberg hinted that a fifth film could still be made. "We like to let them have a little bit of time to rest," he said of the characters. "But I think you can be confident that we'll have another chapter in the Shrek series. We're not finished, and more importantly, neither is he."

On June 15, 2016, after NBCUniversal purchased DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke discussed plans to continue the franchise, as well as other DreamWorks films. In July 2016, The Hollywood Reporter cited sources saying that the fifth film was planned for a 2019 release. In September 2016, Eddie Murphy confirmed that the film was expected to be released in 2019 or 2020, and that the script had been completed.

On November 6, 2018, it was reported by Variety that Chris Meledandri had been tasked to be the executive producer of both Shrek 5 and Puss in Boots 2, with the cast of the previous films potentially returning. In June 2020, James Ryan was set to direct the film, with Philip Craven serving as co-director, and Conrad Vernon writing the screenplay. Rob LaDuca, Nick Park, Adam McKay, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller would produce the film through McKay's company, Hyperobject Industries. Margie Cohn, the president of DreamWorks Animation, said that "adding Rob, Nick, Adam, Phil and Chris’ genius to the humor, thriller, and action that's already an integral part of Shrek is going to make this a next-level reinvention of the property". Ryan said that it is an "absolute pleasure" to direct the film, having been an associate editor on "Shrek Forever After". In August 2020, McKay said that the film would both feature elements from the franchise, of which he's been a lifelong fan, and "kind of hone in on" to elements from his previous Will Ferrell movies.

Later in October 2021, the film was under the working title Shrek: Far From Home with the movie's original release date. In 2022, concept art was released. The official title was revealed as Shrek: Octomania through McKay, Lord, and Miller themselves in August. That November, McKay compared the themes of Octomania to Mark Mylod's black comedy that he produced, The Menu.

Casting
In September 2022, DreamWorks confirmed that Mike Myers would not reprise his role as Shrek. The role was given to Jack Black, while Antonio Banderas was confirmed to reprise his role. The following month, Jeff Goldblum joined the cast. In December 2022, Eddie Murphy, Seth Rogen, and Jenny Slate were confirmed to reprise their roles. On December 15, 2022, it was announced that Melissa McCarthy had replaced Cameron Diaz as the voice of Fiona.

Animation
Work on the film's animation had already begun by September 2021. According to Adam McKay, Ryan wanted "line-drawn illustration style" look for the film and much of the technology used for The Bad Guys was reused for Shrek: Octomania to achieve this while new tools were created.

Marketing
Ryan showed an excerpt of animation at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2022. Rafael Motamayor of /film compared the film's visual aesthetic to Klaus, both having a joyful style that he described as fun for the film. To accompany the title announcement in August, a mural promoting the film went up in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.

Release
Shrek: Octomania is scheduled to be released in the United States on August 4, 2023, by Universal Pictures. The film was initially announced for release on August 11, 2023.