Shrek 5 officially announced with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz returning

It’s official: Shrek is heading back to the big screen.

Dreamworks announced that Shrek 5 will hit theaters July 1, 2026. Mike Myers will reprise his role as the titular ogre, while Cameron Diaz is returning as his wife Fiona, and Eddie Murphy will once again serve as their noble steed, Donkey.

The film will be directed by Walt Dohrn, who helmed all three Trolls films for DreamWorks. The filmmaker is no stranger to the Shrek series: he worked as a story artist and writer on the second and third installments, and served as head of story on the fourth film, Shrek Forever After — in which he also voiced the villain, Rumpelstiltskin.

The mainline Shrek franchise hasn’t produced an entry since that fourth movie in 2010, though it has persisted via two spinoff films: 2011’s Puss in Boots and 2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the latter of which earned positive reviews, an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, and DreamWorks Animation’s top domestic box office performance in almost a decade. 

Shrek Forever After ended with Shrek’s It’s a Wonderful Life–esque alternate-reality adventure fading away, granting the ogre a renewed affection for his life in the swamp as he celebrates his kids’ first birthday.

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Curiously absent from the initial announcement is Antonio Banderas, whose Puss in Boots has now appeared in more theatrical installments of the franchise than any other main character. The Last Wish ended with Puss embarking on a voyage back to Far Far Away, however, so it’s safe to assume that he’ll return in Shrek 5 in some capacity.

The film will mark Myers’ first leading role in a theatrical project since Shrek Forever After in 2010. Though he’s occasionally turned up in supporting roles in films like Bohemian Rhapsody and Amsterdam over the last 14 years, his only starring vehicles have come on TV projects like The Pentaverate and The Gong Show.

Shrek 5 will also be one of Diaz’s first projects since she retired in 2014. Her comeback film, fittingly titled Back in Action, hits Netflix on Nov. 15.

Last month, Murphy said that there’s also another expansion of the Shrekiverse coming down the line. “Donkey's gonna have his own movie,” he told Collider. “We're gonna do Donkey [movie] as well. So we're gonna do a Shrek, and we're doing a Donkey.”

The original Shrek movie proved to be one of the most influential animated films of the 21st century, upending the usual earnestness of fairy-tale movies with irreverent, self-aware humor and a deluge of pop culture references that have since dominated animated projects in Hollywood. The film won the very first Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2002, and also received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Released in 2004, 2007, and 2010, the three subsequent Shrek sequels dwarfed the original’s box office performance and solidified the series as DreamWorks’ premiere franchise. The sequels added the likes of Julie Andrews, Justin Timberlake, John Cleese, Larry King, and Jon Hamm into the fold. 

Shrek has also launched a stage musical, a Puss in Boots TV series, theme park attractions, direct-to-video shorts, and holiday specials.