Despite the last movie being the most successful in the franchise to date, Madagascar 4 still hasn’t happened – here’s all the recent Madagascar 4 news. The original Madagascar arrived in 2005 and told the story of four pampered Central Park Zoo animals who find themselves shipwrecked on Madagascar and have to tap into their inner instincts to survive, and it became a sizable hit. The voice cast returned for 2008’s Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which saw the gang try to make their way back to New York only to crash-land in Africa, where Alex the lion is reunited with his parents.

Following the 2008 sequel, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted arrived in 2012 and became the franchise’s biggest hit yet. The movie made nearly $750 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), and along with the 2014 spinoff movie Penguins of Madagascar, the series has accumulated a total of $2.266 billion. The franchise also spawned an animated TV series also called The Penguins of Madagascar, which ran for 3 seasons. No movie franchise that grosses over $2 billion ever sits dormant for long, but it has been over a decade since the last proper Madagascar movie, even though there were originally plans for Madagascar 4.

Madagascar 4 Most Recent News

There hasn’t been much recent Madagascar 4 news, despite many other beloved DreamWorks series all getting sequels. DreamWorks Animation is working hard on developing legacy sequels such as Shrek 5, which Puss in Boots: The Last Wish teased, and Kung Fu Panda 4, which follows the third movie by eight years. However, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted made over $200 million more than Kung Fu Panda 3 and just as much as Shrek Forever After, so from a financial standpoint, the lack of Madagascar 4 seems like a glaring oversight. There’s not been any official word from Dreamwork on why Madagascar 4 hasn’t been developed yet, but there are a few theories.

A well-documented feud between part of the cast could explain the lack of movement from DreamWorks Animation. The falling out between Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith, who play Marty the zebra and Gloria the hippo, respectively, may have halted development. In 2022, Will Smith famously slapped Rock on stage in front of an audience of millions when the comedian made a joke about Pinkett Smith. Based on Rock’s recent stand-up comedy, he and Smith definitely haven’t reconciled. Rock and Smith’s feud seemingly predates the slap, as Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith at the 2016 Academy Awards too. While there’s nothing official to confirm as such, this may be why there have been delays getting Madagascar 4 off the ground.

Madagascar 4 Is Not Confirmed

Madagascar 4 is not confirmed and there is no Madagascar 4 release date. However, it was confirmed almost a decade ago by DreamWorks Animation. As the studio announced the fourquel in 2014 with a release date of May 2018. Unfortunately, the studio removed Madagascar 4 from its schedule, and while it was simply due to a new policy where DreamWorks Animation was only going to release two movies per year, the fourquel wasn’t rescheduled. It has been eight years since the movie was removed from the schedule, and Dreamworks have provided barely any updates since.

There has only been one comment on the possibility of Madagascar 4 since its removal from the schedule, which came from franchise director Tom McGrath (via Hey U Guys). The filmmaker mentioned, “I love the cast, I love those characters, they are like my children in a way. There are things in the works, nothing is announced yet, but I think they’ll show their faces once more…” However, since that comment, McGrath has directed two Boss Baby movies, and it seems that if there was any development on the movie in 2017, it has come to a complete standstill.

Madagascar 4 Cast

Given that Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty, Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria have always been close and always have each other’s backs, they’d all likely return for the Madagascar 4 cast, especially as the main characters are so beloved. However, given Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith’s falling out, it’s unlikely both of them would return unless they set aside their differences, which seems unlikely at this point. In that respect, Madagascar 4 could write either Marty or Gloria out of the story and replace one of them with a new animal character. Either that or one or more of the characters could be recast.

As the Madagascar franchise is animated, recasting a character isn’t anywhere near as distracting as a live-action character being recast. Recasting has often worked well in animation, such as Patton Oswalt replacing Louis C.K. as Max in The Secret Life of Pets 2, and it wouldn’t be hard to imagine Awkwafina voicing Gloria or Kevin Hart voicing Marty in Madagascar 4. Another option the studio might be looking at is totally rebooting Madagascar and starting from scratch. If that’s the case, absolutely any Hollywood actor can play any of the animals, whether it’s Awkwafina, Kevin Hart, Chris Pratt, or any other movie star.

Madagascar 4 Story

Despite little sign of Madagascar 4 happening, it’s too valuable of a property to leave alone. The movies have collectively grossed close to $2 billion worldwide, which isn’t counting various TV and video game spinoffs, in addition to merchandise. Nevertheless, there’s little information about the Madagascar 4 story, though the ending of Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted gives a hint at where the fourquel’s narrative could go. The third movie ended with the gang joining the circus after they realize they don’t want to be in captivity anymore, so the Madagascar 4 story could see the four animals return to Africa.

While it’s a little strange Dreamworks would leave the series dormant for so long, it’s not unheard of for animated sequels to take long breaks between entries – fans had to wait 12 years for Toy Story 3. DreamWorks Animation could take advantage of the long gaps between movies and, like Toy Story 3, the fourquel could feature a time jump that’s accurate to how many years have passed in real life, with the animals much older. Given that animals, especially lions, have much shorter lifespans than humans, Madagascar 4 could have a deep, Pixar-esque narrative about mortality and tell a genuinely emotional story, making for one of the studio’s best releases yet.