Back in April, NBCUniversal announced its intent to acquire DreamWorks Animation, thus giving the corporation another infusion of family-oriented animated entertainment to compliment the already lucrative Illumination Entertainment (the studio behind theDespicable Memovies,The Secret Life of Pets, and more). And unsurprisingly, this acquisition has come with expectations; specifically for what franchises NBCUniversal wants in active development.
According toTHR, NBCUniversal plans to greenlight two DreamWorks Animation films per year, a move that will likely let them keep pace with Disney, which, through their partnership with Pixar and their own Disney Animation Studios, is cranking out 2-3 animated films per year. For 2019, NBCUniversal is slating “Shrek 5and a creation fromEdgar WrightandDavid WalliamstitledShadows.”
That’s not too surprising. When new corporate ownership comes in, they want to ensure the biggest franchise are turning out new installments. That’s why we’re getting newStar Warsfilms from now until the end of time. WhileShrek Forever Afterpromised an end to the animated franchise, I don’t think any of us seriously believed that would be the big ogre’s last outing, and now it looks like we’ll be seeing him again in a few years.
As forShadows, we last learned about the projectback in November. It’s a revamped version of a project DreamWorks Animation previously tried to get off the ground, entitledMe and My Shadow. The story at the time was “an incredibly frustrated shadow that years for a more dynamic life but happens to be stuck with Stanley Grubb, the world’s most boring human.” We don’t know what Wright and Walliams have changed, but I’m automatically on board with anything Wright does, and I’m excited to see his foray into directing an animated feature.
But who will be overseeing all of this? DreamWorks Animation headJeffrey Katzenberg“is expected to pursue a technology-centric venture at the intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley.” There seemed to be an expectation that Illumination’sChris Meledandriwould take over DWA, but an insider tells THR that while Universal expects him to have some kind of role, “he is said to be conflicted about what that might be.”
So why doesn’t Meledandri want the gig? Sources tell THR, “It’s not so much in Meledandri’s nature to delegate, say associates; rather, he remains immersed in details of whatever film is in production. He is so hands-on that he has an Avid editing setup in his office.”
While Meledandri’s role remains in question—Universal presumes he’ll be involved with DreamWorks Animation in some capacity—Katzenberg will oversee the current slate until the acquisition is finalized, which means he’s keeping an eye on the studio’s upcoming featuresTrollsandBoss Baby. A source says that studio chiefDonna Langley, “will keep it moving forward until Chris decides what he wants to do. To the degree he wants to do more, he will. If it’s less, she’ll step in.”
It makes sense that NBCUniversal wants Meledandri to have a big role since his films have been major successes. The problem is that is films aren’t particularly good. An associate even told THR that Meledandri is “not trying to makeInside Out[but] more populist entertainment," and while there’s nothing necessarily wrong with populist entertainment, that seems to be code for making lazy movies. And you can see that in his work. Pixar rose to success on deep, heartfelt stories with comedy that appealed to both young and older viewers. Illumination Entertainment is a success because of yellow blobs that speak gibberish.
