Cameron Diaz opens new 'Shrek' movie in Taiwan

Fiona, the even-tempered ogre princess in the hit animation "Shrek The Third," is a modern update on the classic fairytale princess, Cameron Diaz, the actress who voiced the character, said Friday.

Photo: Cameron Diaz opens new 'Shrek' movie in Taiwan

Cameron Diaz opens new 'Shrek' movie in Taiwan

Diaz said Fiona is a woman who understands that "if you want something to happen, you have to go out and do it yourself."

In Taiwan to promote the latest installment of the "Shrek" movie franchise that premiers here Friday, Diaz said movie-goers would be able to recognize the film's princess characters although there'd be a twist.

The movie reunites Mike Myers, who provides the voice of the lovable gruff ogre Shrek, and co-stars Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas, as well as Diaz.

When Shrek sets off on a mission to find the true heir of the Kingdom of Far, Far, Away, wife Fiona is left to defend the castle and she gets some unexpected help from familiar fairyland females: Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty.

"These are the princesses we grew up on," Diaz told reporters. "We get to keep our princesses, and we get to modernize them."

The movie also stars Diaz's former boyfriend Justin Timberlake, who provides the voice of the future King Arthur, an awkward teen that Shrek grooms to rule the land. Diaz described Timberlake's performance as "hilarious."

"I think he's great in the film," she said. "He's so gifted."

Diaz and Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of Shrek-creator DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., were on a three-week tour promoting the movie in more than 10 cities in Asia and Europe.

Before Taiwan, Diaz was in Sydney, Australia, and next stop on the list is China.

"Shrek The Third" opened in U.S. theaters last week, pulling in US$121.6 million (euro90.42 million) over the weekend - the best-ever debut for a cartoon movie.

Taiwan theaters will run two versions of the movie, one dubbed into Chinese, and a subtitled version that retains the original voices according to Sandy Lin, a publicist for Paramount Films of China, Inc.