SHREK The Third will be released in cinemas across the UK on June 29, 2007 by Paramount Pictures UK and DreamWorks Animation.

The original casts from Shrek and Shrek 2 – Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Julie Andrews and John Cleese – will reprise their roles in this third chapter of the Shrek story.

And joining them is an all-new ensemble of actors and comedians.

Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Justin Timberlake will play the role of Fiona’s rebellious teenage cousin Artie, the inimitable Eric Idle (Monty Python, Spamalot) will play Merlin and John Krasinski (The Office: An American Workplace) will play Lancelot.

Making up a new fighting force of fairy tale princesses are: Cheri Oteri (Saturday Night Live) as Sleeping Beauty, Amy Poehler (Mean Girls) as Snow White, Maya Rudolph (A Prairie Home Companion) as Rapunzel, and Amy Sedaris (Strangers With Candy) as Cinderella. Ian McShane (Lovejoy, Deadwood) will play Captain Hook.

The story is simple. When Shrek married Princess Fiona, becoming the next King and Queen of Far, Far Away wasn’t part of the plan.

So when his father-in-law, King Harold, falls ill, it is up to Shrek to find a suitable heir or he will be forced to give up his beloved swamp for the throne.

Recruiting Donkey and Puss In Boots for a new quest, Shrek sets out to bring back the rightful heir to the throne, Fiona’s rebellious cousin Artie.

Back in Far, Far Away, Fiona’s jilted Prince Charming storms the city with an army of fairy tale villains to seize the throne. But they have a surprise in store because Fiona, together with her mother, Queen Lillian, has drafted her fellow fairy tale heroines to defend their “happily ever afters.”

As Shrek, Donkey and Puss work on changing Artie from a royal pain in the you-know-what into a future king, Fiona and her band of princesses must stop Prince Charming to ensure there will be a kingdom left to rule.

Shrek the Third is being directed by Chris Miller and co-directed by Raman Hui. The film is being produced by Aron Warner and executive produced by Andrew Adamson and John H Williams.

Having been monitoring its progress, DreamWorks chief Jeffrey Katzenberg has predicted more greats things for the Shrek franchise.

“I think there’s something that’s in the water we drink,” he commented towards the end of last year. “We seem to know how to really make those movies great. It’s the same creative team that made the first two movies and they’ve done really, really good work.”

Watch the trailer

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