Shrek is set to return for a fifth film in July 2026, starring Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, DreamWorks Animation has announced.
It will mark 16 years since the last sequel was released, and 25 years since the original premiered. Shrek first premiered in 2001, while the second was released in 2004, the third in 2007 and Shrek Forever After was released in 2010.
“Not too Far, Far Away… @Shrek 5 is coming to theaters on July 1 2026 with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz,” the Universal Pictures studio said on X, formerly Twitter. Fan favourite Antonio Banderas’ return as Puss In Boots is yet to be confirmed, and no director has been announced.
The announcement went down well with fans, with one replying to the studio's tweet: "A generation of adults have been waiting for this announcement." Another quipped online: "i’m seated. the theatre employees are scared and asking me to leave because 'the movie doesn’t exist yet' but i’m simply too seated.
The announcement from Universal Pictures comes just days on from Eddie Murphy, who famously voices Donkey, letting slip a fifth offering from the Shrek franchise was on its way to the big screen. Speaking to Collider, he said: "We started doing [Shrek 5] months ago. I recorded the first act and we'll be doing it this year, we'll finish it up. Donkey's gonna have his own movie. We're gonna do Donkey as well. We're doing a Donkey one next."
Chris Meledandri, an animation bigwig, also hinted at the original cast's return, saying: "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." And he was correct!
Mike Myers, the man behind Shrek's iconic and recognisable voice, made no secret of the fact he was up for another movie. Speaking to GQ in 2023, he expressed a fondness for the big green guy and admitted: "I loved playing Shrek. If I had to do one Shrek a year I'd be thrilled."
The actor, who hails from Liverpool, almost didn't land the role he loves so much. The part of the big green ogre was initially given to Chris Farley, who tragically passed away in December 1997 while in the midst of recording for the film. Mike's distinctive Scottish accent as Shrek is now iconic, but it could have been very different if Farley had completed his work on the film.
According to Kevin Farley, Chris's brother, the character of Shrek was originally more like Chris - "Originally the Shrek character was a little bit more like Chris, like a humble, bumbling innocent guy." In a 2015 interview with Yahoo, Kevin revealed that he understood why the studio decided to replace his late brother's recordings. "They probably wanted to make Shrek 1, 2, 3, 4, 5" he said.
Despite the circumstances, Kevin harbours no resentment towards Myers or the studio for their decision to recast the role. "The studio needed to do what they needed to do. It was a bad time, bad timing... a tragedy. Mike did a great job with Shrek. He knocked it out of the park."
In 2015, a leaked audio and video with storyboard sketches of Shrek voiced by Chris alongside Eddie Murphy's Donkey on social media circulated after the documentary, "I Am Chris Farley" debuted. John Garbett, a development producer at Dreamworks, was said to have originally posted the clip on Vimeo (now password protected).
A two min and 32 sec video still exists on Youtube of what could have been. Due to the tragedy, the role got recasted to Mike who made it his own. His decision to give Shrek his distinct Scottish brogue made the character memorable. In a Vanity Fair interview in May where he rewatched scenes from some of his legendary characters, Shrek being one of them. The Canadian actor, who also has Scottish heritage, shared how the Scottish inflection came to be.
He started talking about how "fairy tales were about the class system" and he saw ogres as "working people" in that system. He related to growing up as a working person but doing a Canadian accent lacked "any oomph". Since "fairy tales are a Eurocentric form," Mike asked if he could record again in Scottish. "Scottish people are near and dear to me. I have relatives in Scotland and they're working people. It's a working people accent," Mike explained.
Steven Spielberg, who was an uncredited executive producer on Shrek, played a pivotal role in shaping the film's iconic character. He personally vouched for Mike to give the Scottish accent a go when others were hesitant. Mike later received a "lovely letter" from Spielberg, who confessed that the character was "way better" with the Scottish twang. In a testament to his dedication, Mike re-recorded his lines without charge, stating he was "just happy to do so 'cause I wanted it to be good."
Shrek turned out to be a blockbuster success for DreamWorks, raking in a whopping $42 million during its opening weekend before going on to amass $267 million in the US and a staggering $484 million globally. The beloved animated movie also made history by being the inaugural winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
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