Sequel Powers: Michael McCullers Writing 'Shrek 5' and 'Hotel Transylvania 3'

As Shrek 5 gets closer and closer to release, whenever that may be, we hear a little bit more about it...

Michael McCullers, confirmed in an interview with Trolls and Shrek Forever After directors Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn, is writing the script. From this, we can assume that those directors aren't tackling the ogre's fifth entry. Apparently McCullers came up with the story's idea, too. Who is McCullers? He wrote the two Austin Powers sequels, and has also written DreamWorks' forthcoming The Boss Baby.

This is good news to me. A little fresh blood, and someone who worked on another successful comedy series spearheaded by Mike Myers, is a good fit for Shrek. McCullers could perhaps weave some of that Austin Powers sense of humor into Shrek, which I think has been a tired series for a loooong, loooong while. (Yes folks, I'm the odd duck that doesn't think Shrek 2 is anything more than just decent.)

Getting his feet wet with animation, McCullers is also set to write Hotel Transylvania 3 for Sony Animation, which does have a concrete release date. That's also good news I think, because I wasn't fond of the first one, and apparently numero due suffered from the same problems: Great direction by Genndy Tartakovsky at odds with the Adam Sandler brigade's writing. Hopefully the third one is a step in the right direction and is a good animated comedy, not 90 minutes of noise with a mostly insincere, box-checking story slapped onto it.

It's interesting to see McCullers transition into animation at this stage in his career. He had previously contributed additional script material to DreamWorks' own Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Now tapped to write some real biggies, I can only imagine what he lands from there.

What say you?

Ogre the Horizon: 'Shrek 5' Script Is Finished, Says Eddie Murphy

Of course, many know that the green ogre is on his way back to theaters in a few years...

As we've heard for a little while, DreamWorks' plan is to release Shrek 5 some time in 2019 alongside an original film of theirs called Shadows, the re-heat of the ill-fated Me and My Shadow. Eddie Murphy was interviewed by CinemaBlend recently, and he said that the script for the fifth installment is already done.

"They took a nice long break [after 2010's Shrek Forever After]. The next Shrek... I think Jeffrey [Katzenberg, producer] told me 2019? 2019 or 2020, it will be ready. But they've got a good script, they wrote a nice, good script."

That is a nice boulder.

2019 it shall be. When Universal inks the date, I have no idea. They're probably looking at the playing field. All of the Shrek films were mostly mid-to-late May releases, so in May 2019 they'll have to look out for the currently-untitled Avengers film that's sure to be humongous, alongside other competitors like Warner Bros.' Minecraft movie.

Shrek 5 was as inevitable as the turning of the earth. Shrek Forever After may have gotten the lowest attendance here in the states, but it was the biggest one overseas. Perhaps the wait will work in DreamWorks' favor, because 90s/early 00s nostalgia is currently a force to be reckoned with. The original Shrek turned 15 this year, so yeah, the "move out of the way kids, I've been XX years for this!" crowd will probably rush out to see Shrek's fifth adventure. Worldwide, I expect it to do very well. Shrek 5 was also well in place before the Comcast acquisition, it was a particularly smart business move in a time where DreamWorks was getting hit with costly flops left and right.

Like I've said before, I'm not fazed. It'll pocket the studio some cash, they can use that to fund cool originals. That's all neat and such. Really, I think the first Shrek is the only good one, but that has its faults. The sequels are either middling or bland. I think you can make an exceptional Shrek movie out of different parts of the series: The heart of the first film, the loose feel of the second film, and the adventure of the fourth film. Keep it witty, instead of relying on humor that only middle-schoolers find funny. I also wish it will be an actually good satire, because one of the weaker elements of the first Shrek - to me - was its attempts at lampooning Disney. It mostly doesn't work as a Disney send-up because a lot of that film was Katzenberg low-key venting his frustrations about working for the Mouse and Mr. Eisner. Consequently, it seems more bitter than funny.

Also, make me want to root for these characters again... Because if there's one thing that's always been good about these films, it's the characters. Though I get the sense that it'll go the safe route and halfheartedly poke at what's hot now... Like Frozen! A film that, ironically, felt kind of Shrek-like! I don't know, maybe I am asking for too much, but I think you can still do something with a property like Shrek. Will it be fresh again in 3 years? Or as dry as ever?

What say you?