Zendaya Joins Shrek 5 Cast as First Footage Reveals Shrek & Fiona's Teenage Daughter (WATCH)
The fifth installment in the fairy tale-inspired franchise is slated to hit the big screen on December 25, 2026.
Our favorite swamp-dwelling ogre returns in the first teaser trailer for Shrek 5 - arriving in theaters in December 2026!
The brief video, which leans into Shrek's enduring status as viral internet meme, shows off a brand-new art style for the animated DreamWorks franchise and confirms that Mike Myers (Shrek), Eddie Murphy (Donkey), and Cameron Diaz (Fiona) are all reprising their beloved characters from previous installments. Two other Shrek mainstays, Pinocchio and Lord Farquaad's Magic Mirror, also make appearances — while Smash Mouth's "All Star" backs up the footage, of course.
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In a surprise bit of casting news, Zendaya (Euphoria, Challengers) has joined the voice ensemble, though her role has yet to be confirmed. As we previously suspected, however, the sequel seemingly takes place a number of years after Shrek and Fiona welcomed triplets Fergus, Farkle, and Felicia — the latter of whom appears in the teaser a young woman most likely in her teens.
The official Shrek account on Instagram poked fun at Zendaya's connection to the $4 billion series with a tweet the acclaimed actress made in 2017: "I watch Shrek too often in my adulthood." The Instagram account shared a screenshot of the post against an image of Shrek's swamp dwelling and wrote: "This aged well."
Watch the teaser trailer for Shrek 5
Fans have been eagerly awaiting a new Shrek movie ever since Puss in Boots: The Last Wish hinted at a return to the land of Far Far Away almost three years ago. "Honestly, when we were making the story, we put that in in a hopeful way," director Joel Crawford explained to SYFY WIRE. "We love the Shrek universe [and] we’re so happy to be able to continue Puss in Boots' story. We were really hopeful of, ‘If audiences receive the movie and want more of the Shrek world and demand more, then we can go to Far Far Away. We don’t know any master plan. We were kind of like Perrito, we were like, ‘Let’s be hopeful!’"
"It was like, ‘Wouldn’t this just be a fun thing?’" echoed co-director Januel Mercado. "Because we’re not ignoring that this an existing world that Puss is a part of. We put it in and people loved it."
A fifth entry was officially confirmed last summer, albeit with a July 2026 release date that has since been amended to the 2026 holiday season. In addition, a Donkey-centric spinoff project is also in the pipeline.
RELATED: Why Shrek 2 Remains Such an Animation Banger Two Decades Later
What is Shrek 5 about?
DreamWorks Animation has not yet released any plot details for Shrek 5 just yet. But if the film is aging up the original characters, the story may have something to do with the passing of the torch to a new generation.
When does Shrek 5 open in theaters?
The fifth installment in the fairy tale-inspired franchise is slated to hit the big screen on December 25, 2026. Per Variety, the movie is being directed by a pair of Shrek veterans: Conrad Vernon (a co-director on Shrek 2 and voice of the Gingerbread Man) and Walt Dohrn (head of story and voice of Rumpelstiltskin for Shrek Forever After).
All four Shrek movies are now available to own from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
