Yahoo News Antonio Banderas Teases Fifth ‘Shrek’ Film & Talks Spain’s World Cup Exit To Morocco: “That Match Represented The Personalities Of What’s Going On In Our Countries” — Red Sea Film Festival
Antonio Banderas’s latest film, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, screened at the Red Sea Film Festival this week, and the actor told the festival audience that he believes his animated feline is likely to return to the big screen in a fifth Shrek movie.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is the fifth time that Banderas has lent his voice to the animated series. His first outing was the first Shrek film, which debuted in competition at Cannes in 2001.
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“I’ve been with this cat for almost 20 years,” he said. “The first time I did Puss In Boots, I was working on broadway, so I did my first session there. I’ve done five movies now. There is probably gonna be another, and Sherk is probably coming back.”
It had previously been reported that a fifth Shrek movie was in the works and was set for a 2019 release. However, no film materialized, and there hasn’t been any news about the franchise since. Dreamworks produced all four films and numerous spin-offs.
Later during the keynote, Banderas, who came to Hollywood in the early 90s with little English-language skills, said he felt a sense of pride about his role in films like Puss in Boots and the Steven Spielberg-produced Mask of Zorro because they are films that challenged the negative perception of Spanish heritage people in America.
“When I arrived in the United States, many of the actors I worked with told me that if you’re going stay in America, you’re going to play the bad guys and the villains. Blacks, Spaniards, and Arabs are the bad guys,” he said.
“That’s why it was important that I got a mask, a sword, and a cape. And the bad guy was blue eyes, blonde, and spoke perfect English. Puss In Boots is even better because it’s talking to kids, so kids can know that the good guys can also have an accent. And the bad guys can speak perfect English.”
Elsewhere, Banderas spoke about his fleeting passion for soccer, which he said has become much more of a “spectacle” than a sport. He also sent congratulations to the Moroccan soccer team who beat Spain in a World Cup knockout game Tuesday. Banderas said Spain’s defeat against rivals Morocco was indicative of the country’s overall performance today.
“That match represented the personalities of what’s going on in our countries right now,” he said. The comment appeared to be a reference to the Moroccan team being better prepared for the match with more ideas about how to win.
“Moroccans were doing a strategy where they knew how to destroy the Spanish game,” he added. “And the Spanish didn’t know what to do. They were just passing horizontally.”
Next, Banderas stars opposite Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth film in the long-running franchise. The film is set for a June 30, 2023 release.
Banderas described making the film as a fun and beautiful experience.
“My character is not very big but just to be there is important, working with Harrison,” he said.
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