It’s been just over a half-decade since the theatrical release of a film installment of the “Shrek” franchise, Universal‘s massively success animated series that spawned multiple sequels, a Tony-nominated musical and a spinoff. It also spawned a surfeit of licensed merchandise and probably sold unfathomable amounts of fast-food to kids. In short, it has amounted t0 the biggest of big business, and Universal and DreamWorks Animation want to start generating massive revenue again.
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During a recent investor call, NBC/Universal chief Steve Burke revealed that the company is working with Illumination Entertainment’s Chris Meledandri, who “is creatively going to try to help us figure out how to resurrect ‘Shrek’ and take a lot of the existing DreamWorks franchises and add value as we create new franchises.” Why? Surely not solely for artistic merit, but because the corporation hopes to launch theme park rides and sell a bunch of licensed product. In the final analysis, that’s the revenue stream that’s the most lucrative and long-lasting.
It’s really just another day in Hollywood, and the choice of someone like Meledandri is a canny move, as he’s the prime mover behind the incredibly lucrative “Despicable Me” franchise. And of course, China is where Burke is really looking for profits in the long term.
“The city of Beijing has said, ‘Well, Shanghai is Disney and Universal is Beijing.’ They basically cleared the land 10 years ago, and it’s going to be an important part of our company,” he said.
I’m sure Universal will make the new “Shrek” movies the best they can be, but clearly the first priority is restarting a globally marketable franchise, which is hardly the most inspiring driving creative impulse. [Deadline]
