Yes, “Shrek” fans, Eddie Murphy would love to do “Shrek 5” — and he wants a Donkey movie, too. The “You People” star recently shared his thoughts on returning to the Shrek franchise in an interview with CTV’s Etalk.
“I would do another Shrek in two seconds,” he said, before adding the ball is in Dreamworks’s court. “That’s Dreamworks Animation. They have to want to do it. Dreamworks, if you all want to do it, just call me. I’m ready, I’m sitting and ready to do Donkey.”
Murphy also got candid about wanting his fast-talking, wise-cracking character Donkey to finally get his own spinoff. “I love Donkey. You know, they did Puss in Boots movies. I was like, ‘They should have did a Donkey movie. Donkey is funnier than Puss in Boots.’ I mean, I love Puss in Boots, but he ain’t as funny as the Donkey,” Murphy joked.
To date, Puss in Boots, who is voiced by Antonio Banderas, has been the star of three “Shrek” spinoffs after first appearing in “Shrek 2.” The latest movie in the swashbuckling cat’s franchise, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” nabbed an Oscar nomination for best animated picture earlier this month. Banderas celebrated the movie’s nomination on Twitter, writing, “Holy frijoles!!!! Let’s rise up our cups of milk!!!! After 20 years with my kitten . . . let’s go to the Oscars! Puss in Boots: The last Wish’s nominated for the Best Animated Film. Thanks to @TheAcademy. Proud of all the team and cast PIB!!!”
With “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” earning accolades, now would be the perfect time for Dreamworks to roll out more movies in the Shrek universe. For his part, the franchise’s star Mike Myers is just as ready for more Shrek as Murphy is. In a May 2022 interview with GQ, he shared that he never gets tired of playing the grumpy ogre.
“There’s an emotional center there,” Myers said of Shrek. “You know the old joke ‘I wouldn’t want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member’? I have always felt that way. The concept of going from a self-loathing ogre to a self-accepting ogre was meaningful to me. I love playing Shrek. If I had to do one ‘Shrek’ a year, I’d be thrilled.”
Hear that, Dreamworks? Shrek and Donkey are ready and waiting for their next adventure.