Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz’s ‘Shrek 5’ Gets a Massive Release Update as ‘Inside Out 2’ and ‘Despicable Me 4’ Continue to Dominate Box Office

The lovable green ogre, who first appeared in 2001, is making a comeback. After 14 years since his last appearance, DreamWorks Animation has finally announced that Shrek 5 is in the works. 

The Shrek franchise has given four main movies, two Puss in Boots spin-offs, and even a Broadway musical. This just shows its success, and now, just when everyone thought Shrek Forever After would be the last installment, DreamWorks is ready with another adventure.

Shrek 5 Possible Plot, Cast, Story, and More

Shrek 5 is officially happening, and it is set to hit theaters on July 1, 2026, as announced by DreamWorks Animation. It does feel like forever for the fans, but good things take time to happen. Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz are all coming back to voice their characters. 

Although the plot of the movie is not revealed yet, screenwriter Michael McCullers once told The Hollywood Reporter that it is going to reinvent the franchise.

‘Shrek 5’ is being developed. I finished that script, which I really, really, really love. It’s really personal to me. It’s got a pretty big reinvention behind it that I guess I can’t really reveal..

He mentioned that since Universal acquired DreamWorks, their new authority wanted to step up the game and set something for the future. The CEO of Illumination, Chris Meledandri also supported this whole “reinvention” idea.

In an interview with Variety, he revealed that the main challenge for the franchise was to find a good script that didn’t make Shrek 5 just another addition to the franchise. So this might be one of the biggest reasons for the delay in the movie. However, Eddie Murphy, who portrays Donkey in Shrek revealed in an interview with Collider that he has been working on Shrek 5 already.

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. Shrek is coming out, and Donkey’s gonna have his own movie.

As far as the villain of the movie is concerned, many speculations have been going on recently. It could be the Pied Piper, who was seen for a bit in Shrek Forever After or it could also be the comeback from Lord Farquaad, the bad guy from the first movie. However, one thing that fans would want constant is the trouble Shrek and Donkey get themselves into.

Animation Movies Are Dominating the Box Office Lately

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Shrek franchise, including the Puss in Boots spin-offs, has collected over $2.9 billion globally. That makes it the second-biggest animated franchise of all time at the box office after the Despicable Me franchise.

Currently, Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 are absolutely dominating the box office. According to Box Office Mojo, Despicable Me 4 was released on July 3, 2024, had an opening of more than $75 million, and is now at a global collection of $240.2 million. On the other hand, Inside Out 2 has broken all possible records for an animated movie.

Inside Out 2 had an opening of $154.2 million, according to Box Office Mojo, and has collected over $1.2 billion globally. It became the first movie in 2024 to cross the $1 billion mark, and according to Variety, it surpassed Minions and became the 5th biggest animated movie of all time.

It looks like DreamWorks is feeling confident after the success of Inside Out 2 and it is clear that animation movies are ruling currently. With Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 leading the charge and Shrek 5 on the table, audiences are in for a lot more animated fun in the coming years.

Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 are running in theaters.

The Shrek franchise is available to buy or rent on Prime Video and Apple TV.