New 'Puss in Boots' Movie Coming From 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Director

Coming off an Academy Award win for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, filmmaker Bob Persichetti has been tapped to direct Puss in Boots 2 for Dreamworks.

The first Puss in Boots, which hit theaters in 2011, earned over $550 million at the worldwide box office and an Oscar nomination.

Voiced by Antonio Banderas in the feature film franchise, Puss is a character parody of the popular character, Zorro. He is a proud and honorable fighter. He is also a suave, kindhearted, charming, and heroic. Puss is also a "ladies' cat." He has appeared in three Shrek movies and a Puss in Boots film as well as a number of short films and TV specials.

Andre Sogliuzzo voiced the character in an animated series which ran from 2015 to 2018.

Banderas is expected to reprise the role in Shrek 5 and Puss in Boots 2. Puss in Boots was released in 2011, just after the most recent Shrek film -- Shrek Forever After -- hit theaters the year before. When it wrapped up, Shrek was the 12th highest-grossing franchise of all time, and the highest-grossing animated franchise.

Deadline, who first reported the news, notes that Persichetti served as the Head of Story and voiced a role in the original Puss in Boots.

Austin Powers and Baby Mama writer Michael McCullers just finished penning the script for the fifth film in the Shrek franchise in 2017, and put the movie -- which was expected to be in theaters this year -- into development. More recently, Despicable Me's Chris Meledandri was reportedly tasked with reviving both the Shrek and Puss in Boots film series, with the original cast potentially returning.

Persichetti directed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse along with Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman. The Oscar-winning film has earned about $400 million globally at the box office and is available on digital streaming video on demand services beginning today.

Originally, Shrek franchise filmmaker Chris Miller had been tapped to direct Puss in Boots 2, with a targeted release date of 2018. In January 2015, Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & 40 Thieves was removed from the release schedule, following corporate restructuring, and DreamWorks Animation's new policy to release two films a year.There is no official release date yet for Puss in Boots 2.

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