Did you know that a child born on the day Shrek hit theaters — May 18, 2001 — would have turned 25 years old last month? That means two things: First, god damn, we are old. Second, they’ll turn twenty-six by the time that Shrek 5 hits theaters in a year and some change. Yes, they’re going back to that well again, and why wouldn’t they? The grumpy green ogre has become a fantastic meme himself, and those movies are, surprisingly, even better than you remember them being.
So, don’t roll your eyes too hard at Universal and Dreamworks rolling this old franchise out of cold storage: the kids will see this, and they’ll do Gentleminion or Chicken Jockey antics for views. Everyone will have a good time, except for the theater managers. They don’t get paid enough to deal with that bullshit.
Anyhow, Dreamworks dropped a teaser trailer for the sequel earlier on Tuesday, and guess what? Zendaya is no longer Meechee. She’s Shrek’s daughter now. Deal with it. Oh, and the fans hate it — apparently, it doesn’t look enough like the good Shreks of yore. Huh.
Peep it:
Here’s a synopsis (or, more accurately, a cast list) for Shrek 5:
“Next summer, DreamWorks Animation invites audiences on a thrilling, magical new comedy adventure from one of the most beloved global animated franchises of all time: ‘Shrek 5.’ Comedy legends Mike Myers, Oscar nominee Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz return to their signature roles as Shrek, Donkey and Fiona. Emmy winning superstar Zendaya (‘The Odyssey,’ ‘Dune’ franchise) joins the cast as Shrek and Fiona’s daughter Felicia, along with Marcello Hernandez (‘Saturday Night Live,’ ‘Happy Gilmore 2’) and Skyler Gisondo (‘Superman,’ ‘Booksmart’) as Felicia’s brothers, Fergus and Farkle.”
Shrek 5‘s seen some serious release-date shuffle shit. It was originally supposed to be out in two weeks, but it was pushed back to Christmas 2026 soon afterward. Then, following a disastrous cast announcement video that hit the internet in February 2025, they finally settled on June 30, 2027, as the final release date. Will that hold? Probably. Who knows?