Shrek 5 set for release in July 2026, 16 years after previous movie

Shrek 5 will be released in two years. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy are all on board to reprise their roles for the next instalment in the franchise, DreamWorks Animation confirmed, with the movie set to hit cinemas on Jul 1, 2026 – 16 years after the release of the fourth film, Shrek Forever After.

The studio confirmed the news on X.

A spokesperson wrote: “Not too Far, Far Away… @Shrek 5 is coming to theaters on July 1, 2026 with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz.”

Walt Dohrn (who previously worked as a writer and artist on the second and third movies, and was head of story on the fourth) will direct the film, with Brad Ableson as co-director. Gina Shay is returning to produce alongside Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri.

The confirmation comes a month after Eddie Murphy confirmed work had started on the film, and that his character Donkey will be getting a spin-off movie.

He told Collider: “We started doing Shrek four or five months ago. I recorded the first act, and we’ll be doing it this year. We’ll finish it up.”

Illumination founder Chris Meledandri first discussed the film last year and admitted he was hopeful of getting the original cast back together.

The film producer told Variety: "We anticipate the cast coming back. Talks are starting now, and every indication that we've gotten is there's tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of the actors to return."

Meledandri has worked on The Super Mario Bros Movie and explained that a similar creative process will be carried out for the return of Shrek.

The producer said: "It's not that dissimilar to the process that we went through with Mario, where you look at what the core elements are that audiences have loved, and you do your very best to honour those core elements.

"And then you're hard at work to build story elements and new characters that take you to brand new places. The original cast is a huge part of that."