Shrek 5 is officially in development, with the franchise’s core voice cast – Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz – all confirmed to return.

DreamWorks Animation, the production company behind all six films in the Shrek franchise, confirmed the news on Wednesday, announcing it would be released on 1 July 2026.

The rambunctious ogre franchise began in 2001 with the first Shrek film, which became a critical and box office mega-phenomenon. When it premiered at Cannes, it became the first animated film to compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or in more than five decades, and went on to become the first winner of the Oscar’s animated feature category.

Making $487m at worldwide cinemas, Shrek’s first outing turned DreamWorks – which had produced a steady series of modest hits at that point, including Chicken Run and Antz – into a bona fide powerhouse. In 2020, Shrek was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, reserved for films of historical, cultural or aesthetic significance.

Shrek spawned three more direct sequels: Shrek 2, which also premiered at Cannes and became the franchise’s highest-grossing film with almost a billion-dollar global box office, as well as Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After.

Later in the franchise came 2011’s Puss in Boots – a spin-off centred around Antonio Banderas’s fiendish feline – and 2022 sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

It is unconfirmed as yet whether Banderas has signed on for Shrek 5, now the seventh feature film in the franchise.

In an interview last month, Murphy – who voices Donkey – hinted at forthcoming Shrek instalments, including a Donkey spin-off.

“We started doing [Shrek 5] months ago,” he told Collider. “I did this. I recorded the first act, and we’ll be doing it this year.”

News of the Shrek sequel has swirled since at least 2018, when reports emerged that Universal, DreamWorks’ parent company, had approached Chris Meledandri – the animation executive behind Despicable Me – to find a new way into the franchise.

“When you look back on those vocal performances they’re awesome … I find myself responding to my own nostalgic feelings of wanting to go back to those characterisations,” Meledandri said at the time. “The challenge for us has been to find something that really does feel like it’s not simply yet another film in a series of sequels.

• Film
• Eddie Murphy
• Cameron Diaz
• Mike Myers
• Shrek Forever After
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