'Shrek 5' officially announced, film to release in 2026

The fifth installment of the animated fantasy comedy franchise "Shrek" will hit the screens in 2026. The original cast of the film -- Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz -- will return for the sequel.

Dreamworks Animation, the studio behind the movie, shared the update on its X page on Tuesday.

"Not too Far, Far Away... @Shrek 5 is coming to theaters on July 1, 2026 with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz," the banner captioned the announcement video.

According to Variety, "Shrek 5" will be directed by Walt Dohrn, who served as a writer and artist on "Shrek 2" and "Shrek the Third". He was also the head of story on "Shrek Forever After", in which he also voiced the character of Rumpelstiltskin. Brad Ableson will serve as co-director.

It's unknown whether Antonio Banderas will return as the feisty cat Puss in Boots in the new movie.

"Shrek 5" will be produced by franchise returner Gina Shay and Illumination founder Chris Meledandri.

In an interview last month, Murphy let it slip that voice recording for the film has already begun with a spin-off movie on his character Donkey.

"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. We're gonna do Donkey as well. So we're gonna do a 'Shrek,' and we're doing a Donkey (movie)," he had said.

The "Shrek" franchise released four feature films between 2001 and 2010. Besides becoming a box office hit, the first "Shrek" film became the first Oscar winner in the animated feature category.

Its success led to sequels "Shrek 2" (2004), "Shrek the Third" (2007) and "Shrek Forever After" (2010), which also did favourable business at the box office.

A spin-off based on the character of Puss in Boots also spawned another franchise - two films "Puss in Boots" (2011) and "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" (2022) and "The Adventures of Puss in Boots", an animated TV series which ran from 2015 to 2018.