The Buzz: June 2007

Aardman's New Film Slate

Having split from DreamWorks and teamed up with Sony, Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman Animations have announced their new feature film plans. The future movies, as reported in Variety, include The Cat Burglars, to be directed by Steve Box (who describes the film as "family-friendly Tarantino") and written by Life on Mars scribes Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah; Operation Rudolph, a festive action flick from Borat writer Peter Baynham; an adaptation of Gideon Defoe's Pirates! books to be directed by Peter Lord; and, last but not least, an untitled, Wallace and Gromit-free project from Nick Park (above).

posted: Jun 26, 2007 by MonkeyFunk

5 Shreks is enough

After the release of Shrek the Third, the latest installment in the popular and highly profitable Shrek franchise, some movie go'ers might be wondering just how many Shrek movies Dreamworks intends to make. In a recent interview with The Age, Dreamworks exec Jeffrey Katzenberg assures that Shrek 5 will be the last of the series. "It's a finite story, has been from the beginning and I think that's part of its integrity, part of its strength, that we're not thinking this up as we go," he says.

He also reveals in the interview that Shrek 5 will tell the story of how Shrek ended up in his swamp in the first place. The next movie in the series--Shrek 4--is scheduled to be released sometime in 2010.

posted: Jun 02, 2007 by athena