More than ten years after the first movie debuted, Puss in Boots is back.
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is headed to theaters and the trailer just dropped (watch it above). And looks fun and colorful, like the somewhat more sophisticated brand extension that it always was.
Universal describes the plot of this new “Puss in Boots” as following the character (once again voiced by Antonio Banderas) as “he embarks on an epic journey into the Black Forest to find the mythical Wishing Star and restore his lost lives. But with only one life left, Puss will have to humble himself and ask for help from his former partner and nemesis: the captivating Kitty Soft Paws (Salma Hayek).” Only this time they are joined by “a ratty, chatty, relentlessly cheerful mutt, Perro (Harvey Guillén).”
Of course, this being a part of the “Puss in Boots”/”Shrek” world, there are other fairy tale shenanigans that enter the picture. During the course of their adventure they run afoul of Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears Crime Family, “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney) and The Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura).
The cast for the new movie also includes Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, Anthony Mendez and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
Puss in Boots was an instant fan-favorite when he first appeared in DreamWorks Animation’s “Shrek 2” back in 2004. But he didn’t get his own solo film until 2011, after appearing in both “Shrek the Third” and “Shrek Forever After.” The original “Puss in Boots” was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar and is one of the DreamWorks Animation films that most reflected the sensibilities of executive producer Guillermo del Toro, who was advising on all of DreamWorks’ animated features at the time.
Work on a proper sequel to “Puss in Boots” has been in development since just after the original film debuted. Del Toro said, in 2013, that scripts had already been submitted and Banderas commented that work had begin in 2014. Later in 2014 “Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & 40 Thieves” had a tentative winter 2018 release date. After Universal fully acquired DreamWorks Animation in 2015, the animation studio went through a restructuring and a “Puss in Boots” follow-up was quietly pulled from the schedule.
In 2019, immediately following “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s” Oscar win for Best Animated Feature, Bob Persichetti was announced as the new director behind the “Puss in Boots” sequel. But by 2021 Persichetti had been replaced.
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is being directed by Joel Crawford and produced by Mark Swift, both of whom led “The Croods: A New Age.” Maybe most interestingly of all, this new film is being executive produced by Illumination Entertainment founder and CEO Chris Meledandri, the man behind the “Despicable Me” and “Sing” franchises.
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” will be in theaters on Sept. 23.