Will There Ever Be A Madagascar 4?
In 2005, "Madagascar" was an absolute hit amongst audiences, earning over $500 million dollars worldwide (via Box Office Mojo). Although critics seemed a little bit wearier (via Rotten Tomatoes), most audiences enjoyed following Alex the Tiger (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) as they set off to explore the world outside of the Central Park Zoo. Of course, no one could forget other important and essential supporting characters like the Penguins — Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller), Private (Christopher Knights), and Rico (John DiMaggio). Although it would be King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen and Danny Jacobs), Mort (Andy Richter), and Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer) that managed to steal the show in many scenes.
Either way, the audience reception and financial success prompted a sequel, 2008's "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," which received a better critical response this time around. After that, a television series would be added to the mix with "The Penguins of Madagascar" releasing in the same year, followed by the third movie, 2012's "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," another television series with "All Hail King Julien" in 2014, and finally "Madagascar: A Little Wild" in 2020 that follows the early lives of Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman.
The fourth "Madagascar" feature that follows Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman's journey was said to be happening according to then DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg (via Empire), but that all changed quickly. It's now 2022, so will we ever get a fourth "Madagascar" movie? Here's what we know.
Madagascar 4 could still be happening
Although nothing has yet been confirmed, the reported fourth "Madagascar" was taken off of DreamWorks' release schedule in 2015, most likely due to the studio's restructuring that limited them to producing only two movies per year (via Deadline). However, the film is yet to be officially canceled. According to some sources, the movie was put back on DreamWorks's release schedule in 2018 (via Collider), only to be removed once more soon after. It is most likely that "Madagascar 4" has been put on the back-burner in favor of other upcoming DreamWorks projects and the current "Madagascar: A Little Wild" series, with the studio merely waiting for the right time to have "Madagascar 4" be released. In comparison, "Toy Story 4" came out a whole nine years after the third installment, so anything's possible.
Again, given that there has been no official cancellation announcement for the project, it's likely that "Madagascar 4" is still under development somewhere within DreamWorks. It will certainly be interesting to see Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith team up again for a possible "Madagascar 4" after the recent Oscars mishap. Either way, given the financial success of every installment of the series, it would seem to be a very profitable venture for DreamWorks to release "Madagascar 4." As always, we'll keep you posted.