Despite confirmation Shrek 5 was in production in 2024, it wasn’t until this year that we got an official teaser for the next entry in the animated DreamWorks series. With a June 30, 2027, release date, the fifth movie will be released 17 years after 2010’s Shrek Forever After. But the wait for the next next Shrek film won’t be nearly as long.
Universal Pictures announced Thursday that 2028 will see the release of Donkey, a film focused on Eddie Murphy’s Shrek sidekick, as reported by Variety.
Murphy teased the spinoff movie was happening back in 2025 while doing press for The Pickup. The film will be directed by Charlie Bean, who previously directed The Lego Batman Movie and the live-action Lady and the Tramp. (Hopefully, Donkey is more like the former in quality.) Matt Flyn, who has worked on the likes of The Wild Robot and Puss in Boots: the Last Wish, will co-direct. The animated feature will be produced by Rebecca Huntely, whose credits include Kung Fu Panda 4 and The Bad Guys.
Donkey is set to be an origin story that answers the question audiences have apparently been asking forever: How did a donkey become Donkey? Universal and Dreamworks have set a June 30, 2028 release. That means the spinoff will come out exactly one year after Shrek 5, as long as no delays occur. This will not be the first spinoff movie in the Shrek franchise, as Puss in Boots has received two films. The first was the eponymous Puss in Boots in 2011, followed by the critically acclaimed Puss in Boots: The Last Wish in 2022. So while the prospect of a Donkey origin might not sound all that appealing on paper, Universal and DreamWorks have shown that the world of Shrek still has great stories to tell.
Shrek 5‘s official announcement was met with some trepidation due to a new animation style that at first seemed off-putting. Original cast members Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz are both returning to voice Shrek and Fiona, respectively, as is, of course, Murphy in the role of Donkey. Newcomers to the fifth movie include Zendaya, who will voice Shrek and Fiona’s daughter Felicia. Though “Zendaya is Felicia” doesn’t have quite the same ring as the “Zendaya is Meechee” meme that 2018’s Smallfoot gifted us with.
Shrek 5 is directed by DreamWorks veterans Walter Dohm (who has worked on every Shrek since the second film) and Conrad Vernon (co-director of Shrek 2). Despite so many releases over the years, the Shrek franchise has remained surprisingly consistent in quality. Only 2010’s Shrek Forever After might be considered a real dud. Hopefully, both Shrek 5 and Donkey turn out to be two quality animated features. Only time will tell.
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