'Shrek 5' Delayed to 2026

Universal Pictures are making changes to their release schedule. Just over the weekend, the studio announced that the highly anticipated animated film with DreamWorks Animations about everyone’s favorite green ogre is being pushed back. Shrek 5 will be hitting theaters around the holidays in 2026 as opposed to its original July 1, 2026 summer release.

Besides the fifth film of the Shrek franchise, Illumination’s Minions 3 has moved up a year from its original June 30, 2027 premiere date. Another Universal project, currently another untitled Illumination ilm, is slated for June 2027 to take over the Minions release date. The December 2026 release date for Shrek 5 arrives just in time for the franchise’s 25th anniversary.

Shrek 5 will see the return of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz to voice Shrek, Donkey and Fiona respectively. Diaz continues her return to film following her acting retirement announcement she made back in 2018. She recently starred opposite of Jamie Foxx in their action film for Netflix. When Shrek first came out, the original film that released in 2001 won the first Oscar for best animated feature. In total, the four films in the franchise have earned over $2.9 billion USD in total around the world. It has been turned into an award-winning Broadway musical with eight Tony nominations and 12 Drama Desk nominations and also has its own immersive attraction across Universal Studios Parks.

The fifth sequel will be directed by Walt Dohrn who also worked on the second and third films as an artist and writer. Gina Shay returns to produce.