Shrek 5 release date delay confirmed in blow for eager franchise fans
We're still far, far away from the release.
It's a bad day to be a Shrek fan today – with news that the fifth film starring the beloved animated ogre has been delayed by a further six months.
Shrek 5 – the first film in the mainline series since Shrek Forever After in 2010 – will now be arriving in cinemas on Wednesday 30th June 2027 rather than the previous date of 23rd December 2026, so there's still almost two years for fans to wait.
It's certainly far, far away from the 2025 release that was originally teased by Eddie Murphy in summer last year, around the same time the film was officially announced.
"We started doing [Shrek 5] months ago. I did this, I recorded the first act, and we’ll be doing it this year, we’ll finish it up," he said while speaking to Deadline at the time, adding: "I think it's coming out in 2025."
Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Murphy will all be returning to their iconic roles as Shrek, Princess Fiona and Donkey for the new film, while there's also a very high profile addition to the voice cast in the form of Zendaya – who is playing Shrek and Fiona's daughter Felicia.
No official reason has been given by Universal for the most recent delay, but fans will be hoping that it gives the animators more time to craft a sequel worth the 17-year wait.
The film is being directed by Conrad Vernon and Walt Dohrn – each of whom have been heavily involved in the previous entries in the franchise – and a brief early trailer was released back in February to tease some of what's to come.
Although it's been a long time since Shrek himself led a film, the franchise hasn't been entirely absent in that time – with Antonio Banderas having returned to voice the title character in the acclaimed Puss in Boots: The Last Wish back in 2022.
While official plot details for the new film are rather thin on the ground, an unconfirmed rumour previously suggested that the film could see the main characters leave the fairytale kingdom and visit the human world – although it's best to take that speculation with a fairly hefty dose of salt for now.
Given Zendaya's casting, it certainly seems likely that the father-daughter relationship between Shrek and Felicia could be the driving narrative force of the film, and we'll be keeping an eye out for any more concrete details in the weeks and months ahead.
Shrek 5 will be released on Wednesday 30th June 2027.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
