Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is an upcoming American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. A spin-off of the "Shrek" franchise, the film is a sequel to "Puss in Boots" (2011). It is directed by Joel Crawford with co-direction by Januel Mercado, scripted by Paul Fisher, and stars the voices of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek who reprise their roles as Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws, respectively, alongside Olivia Colman, Harvey Guillén, Samson Kayo, Wagner Moura, Anthony Mendez, John Mulaney, Florence Pugh , Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Ray Winstone. "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on December 21, 2022, by Universal Pictures. Premise. Having burned through eight of his nine lives, Puss in Boots must set out on a journey to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his lost lives. Production. In November 2012, executive producer Guillermo del Toro said that a couple of drafts for a sequel were already done, and that the director Chris Miller wanted to take Puss on an adventure to exotic places. In April 2014, Antonio Banderas , the voice of Puss, said that the work on the sequel had just begun. On June 12, 2014, the movie was titled "Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & 40 Thieves" and was scheduled to be released on November 2, 2018. In August 2014, it was moved one month to December 21, 2018. In January 2015, "Puss in Boots 2" was removed from the release schedule following corporate restructuring and DreamWorks Animation's new policy to release two films a year. In March 2015, Banderas said in an interview that the script was under restructuring, and that Shrek may appear in  the film. By November 2018, Chris Meledandri had been brought on board as an executive producer of both "Shrek 5" and "Puss in Boots 2". On February 26, 2019, it was confirmed that the sequel was still in development, and Bob Persichetti was set to direct the film. On August 19, 2020, DreamWorks trademarked "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" as the new title of the sequel, which was approved in December. In March 2021, Joel Crawford replaced Persichetti as director, having previously helmed Dreamworks' "" (2020), with the film's co-director Januel Mercado, producer Mark Swift, and screenwriter Paul  Fisher returning as collaborators. Cast members were announced in March 2022. Release. The film was originally scheduled to be released by 20th Century Fox on November 2, 2018, but was delayed a month to December 21, 2018, before it was canceled. Upon the project's resurrection, it was originally scheduled to be theatrically released by Universal Pictures on September 23, 2022, but in April 2022, the film was pushed back to December 21, 2022, taking the release date of Illumination's untitled "Mario" film.