Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a 2022 American animated adventure comedy film directed by Joel Crawford and written by Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow. Produced by DreamWorks Animation, it is the sequel to Puss in Boots (2011) and the sixth installment in the Shrek film series. As with its predecessor, the film is based on the character introduced in Shrek 2 (2004) and inspired by the fairy tale. Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek reprise their respective roles as the titular character and Kitty Softpaws, with Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, John Mulaney, Wagner Moura, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Anthony Mendez joining the cast. Set after the events of Shrek Forever After (2010), the story follows Puss in Boots, who teams up with Kitty Softpaws and a dog named Perrito to find the Last Wish of the fallen Wishing Star to restore eight of his nine lives. They race against other fairy tale characters seeking the same treasure, while a sinister wolf hunts Puss himself.

Planning for a sequel to Puss in Boots began in November 2012, but it languished in development hell until it was revived in November 2018. In February 2019, it was announced that the film would be helmed by Bob Persichetti, head of story of the first film and co-director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). By March 2021, Crawford had replaced Persichetti as director. The story draws inspiration from Spaghetti Western films, with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) cited as a particular influence. The film's style was inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. With new technologies, the team was able to give the film a painterly style to resemble a fairy-tale story, diverging from the visual style of previous installments in the Shrek franchise.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish premiered at Lincoln Center in New York City on November 25, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 21 by Universal Pictures. It received acclaim from critics and was a commercial success, grossing $484 million on a production budget of $90–110 million, becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2022. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Critics' Choice Awards, and the British Academy Film Awards.