Following Eddie Murphy’s previous leak that Shrek 5 was in the works, Universal confirmed that Shrek 5 is in the works and announced today that the film will be released on July 1, 2026.
DreamWorks’ official Twitter account AnimationX released a teaser trailer with the Shrek 5 logo to coincide with the release date. In addition to the release date, Universal also confirmed to Variety that Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz will reprise their roles in the upcoming film.
By the time Shrek 5 hits theaters, it will have been 15 years since the release of the last Shrek feature film, Shrek Forever After, in 2010. However, DreamWorks has released several Puss in Boots spinoffs in the meantime, including the hugely popular The Last Wish in 2022.
The existence of Shrek 5 has been hinted at for some time, but today’s release date announcement is the most concrete update on it. Previously, Murphy, who voices Donkey in the series, told Collider in an interview that the film will be released sometime next year, with a spinoff focusing on Donkey coming up next.
Previously, Chris Meledandri, CEO of Illumination and creative advisor to DreamWorks Animation, told Variety that DreamWorks was working on both projects with the goal of bringing back the original cast. Vague rumors about the development of Shrek 5 date back to 2016.
With Hollywood relying more and more on established intellectual properties, it’s not surprising that Universal and DreamWorks would want to reimagine everyone’s favorite fairy tale ogre. According to a previous press release from Universal, the Shrek series is the second highest-grossing animated series of all time. The studio attempted to capitalize on nostalgia by releasing a 20th anniversary remake of Shrek the Second in April.