Chris Meledandri: Last News

Universal and Illumination‘s smash The Super Mario Bros Movie finishes No. 1 to make it a wrap on Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament for 2023. While the industry is still coming out of Covid and the aftermath of the strikes, there’s no question about the major motion picture studios’ embrace of the theatrical downstream model; steamers such as Amazon and Apple realize the power of it too.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie became one of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, a sequel is officially on the way.Chris Pratt voices Nintendo’s iconic video game character in the 2023 film, alongside Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi and Jack Black as Bowser.The film is joint production between Nintendo, Universal Pictures and Illumination, the studio best known for the Despicable Me franchise.In 2024, a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie was officially announced during the Mario Day celebrations on March 10.The sequel is set to come out in cinemas on April 3, 2026 in the US.The film will be released in other territories on the same date, although the specific regions are yet to be announced.

Zendaya has joined the cast of Shrek 5, in a major get for the franchise, as announced on the series’ official X page Thursday morning.

“Storytelling has never been more important,” Illumination founder and boss Chris Meledandri said Saturday night in receiving the David O. Selznick Achievement Award at the PGA Awards.

The Producers Guild of America kicked off its 2025 PGA Awards winners announcements Monday, with the producing team behind Netflix’s docuseries Simone Biles Rising winning for Outstanding Sports Program and the producers of Max’s Sesame Street winning for Outstanding Children’s Program for a third consecutive year.

The Producers Guild of America has announced its 2025 nominees for movies and television.

Angelique Jackson Shrek and the Minions will both be on the big screen in 2026. Universal Pictures announced Friday that the highly-anticipated animated movies are swapping their theatrical release dates, with DreamWorks Animation’s “Shrek 5” pushing back from July 1, 2026 to Wednesday, Dec.

Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek 5 will now open on Wednesday, December 23, 2026, instead of July 1 next year.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor The Producers Guild of America 2025 nominees for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Picture award include “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” “Gaucho Gaucho,” “Mediha,” “Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa,” “Porcelain War” and “We Will Dance Again.” Winners will be announced at the PGA Awards on Feb. 8 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. “Super/Man” was named among the top five documentaries of the year by NBR and is a nominee for the Cinema Eye Honors.

Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of animation powerhouse Illumination, is set to receive the David O. Selznick Achievement Award at the 36th Annual Producers Guild Awards, taking place at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 8. 

Emiliana Betancourt The Producers Guild of America is honoring Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of Illumination, with the 2025 David O. Selznick Achievement Award for his “extraordinary producing accomplishments.” Melendandri is the second animation producer to receive this recognition in the 36 years the awards have been running. The ceremony will take place at the annual Producers Guild Awards on Feb.

Jordan Moreau It’s going to be a very despicable Halloween this year. Get your yellow face paint and overalls ready, because Universal and Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4” is streaming on Peacock on October 31.

Illumination and Universal’s Despicable Me 4 handily crossed the six-century mark at the global box office this week, now with $632M through Thursday. The latest in the series has pushed the worldwide running total for the Despicable Me/Minions franchise to $5.3B, overtaking Transformers ($5.295B) and the Avatar movies ($5.268B). This puts the franchise at No. 12 on the all-time global chart.

The bananas obsessed creatures won’t stop: Universal Pictures will release Illumination’s Minions 3 on Wed, June 30, 2027.

Angelique Jackson After “Despicable Me 4″ topped the July 4 holiday box office with a $230 million debut at the global box office, Universal and Illumination have announced “Minions 3″ as the next chapter in the hit animated franchise. The band of mischievous minions will be headed back to theaters on June 30, 2027 for a film written by Brian Lynch (“Minions,” “The Secret Life of Pets” films) and directed by Academy Award-nominee Pierre Coffin (a director of the first three “Despicable Me” films and the first “Minions” movie).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent It’s not just Maxime Le Mal, the “Despicable Me 4” villain with the broad accent, that has a distinctly French flavor. In fact, Universal and Illumination’s animated franchise boasts Gallic DNA throughout all of the hit movies. And even though Chris Renaud, the Oscar-nominated director of the latest “Despicable Me” and two of its predecessors, owes his French-sounding name to his Canadian origins, the helmer says “essentially everybody” working on the films is French.

“Shrek 5” will be released on July 1, 2026.Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy will reprise their roles as Shrek, Princess Fiona and Donkey, respectively.“Not too Far, Far Away…@Shrek 5 is coming to theaters on July 1, 2026 with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz,” the studio wrote on X (formerly Twitter).It’s unclear if Antonio Banderas, who plays Puss in Boots in the animated franchise, will return.“Shrek 5” will be directed by Walt Dohrn with Brad Ableson as co-director, according to Variety.Dohrn, 53, was a writer and animator on the second and third “Shrek” films. He served as head of story on the fourth film, where he also voiced Rumpelstiltskin.The fifth movie will be produced by Gina Shay, who worked on the fourth film, and Illumination founder Chris Meledandri.The beloved film series started with 2001’s “Shrek” and spawned three sequels — 2004’s “Shrek 2,” 2007’s “Shrek the Third” and 2010’s “Shrek Forever After.”There’s also been two spinoffs based on Banderas’ character — 2011’s “Puss in Boots” and 2022’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” The franchise has grossed more than $4 billion at the worldwide box office.Meledandri, 65, confirmed in April that “Shrek 5” was in the works with the original cast in talks to return.“We anticipate the cast coming back.

Shrek 5″ is officially in development, with a far, far away release date of July 1, 2026. Original “Shrek” stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz are all confirmed to return.Not too Far, Far Away… @Shrek 5 is coming to theaters on July 1, 2026 with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz. pic.twitter.com/3j6ctXpPGuAntonio Banderas’ return as the feisty feline Puss in Boots is not yet confirmed.

upcoming fifth movie from the animated film franchise.“We started doing [‘Shrek 5’] months ago,” the actor, 63, told Collider in an interview published Monday.“I did this, I recorded the first act, and we’ll be doing it this year, we’ll finish it up,” he added.But that’s not all!Murphy also confirmed that he’s going to star in a spinoff based on his “Shrek” character Donkey. “Donkey’s gonna have his own movie.

CinemaCon attendees got an extended clip from Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 at Universal’s presentation Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Gru, the recovering supervillain turned huggable and lovable dad, is back in action. Universal premiered a new sequence from “Despicable Me 4,” the latest installment in the studio and its partner Illumination’s long-running animated franchise, at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Wednesday. It featured an aspiring villainess (Joey King) as well as a new addition to the Gru family — Gru Jr., who bears a strong resemblance to his beak-nosed namesake — as they attempted a “Mission: Impossible” style heist of a heavily fortified castle.