Universal Wants to Reboot Shrek, Puss In Boots

Well, the years start coming and they don’t stop coming.

Universal has tasked Illumination Pictures CEO and Despicable Me producer Chris Meledandri with rebooting Shrek and Puss in Boots, per Variety.

The news follows reports in June 2016 that Universal’s parent company Comcast wanted to revive the Shrek franchise. Earlier that year, in April 2016, Comcast acquired original Shrek producers DreamWorks Animation, which it folded into NBC Universal.

This is the first time, though, that we’re getting reports of a full-on “reboot” of the Shrek franchise, the last feature installments of which were 2010’s Shrek Forever After, followed by 2011’s Puss in Boots.

“When you look back on those vocal performances they’re awesome, and while you certainly could make a case for a complete reinvention, I find myself responding to my own nostalgic feelings of wanting to go back to those characterizations,” Meledandri told Variety. “The challenge for us has been to find something that really does feel like it’s not simply yet another film in a series of sequels.”

Admittedly, it makes sense that Shrek would be due for a reboot. Those last two installments did make a fair amount of money, although neither made much of a cultural impact (minus a memorable Puss in Boots reference in 2013’s Frances Ha).