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Shrek 5 gets a new release date (Bad news: it's later than you hoped)

SomeBODY once told me that the fifth Shrek movie has been bumped out a few months

Published on Wed Jan 15 2025

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Bad news for those who’d been counting down the days until Shrek came back into their lives — Universal Pictures has announced that Shrek 5, the (checks notes) fifth installment of the animated franchise that defined a generation and somehow made ‘All Star’ by Smash Mouth into a fondly remembered anthem, has been moved out of its planned Summer 2026 release slot, and won’t make it into theaters until next year’s holiday season.

The movie was officially announced back in July 2024 with a July 1 2026 release date. Now, it turns out (via the Hollywood Reporter), that’s changed so that audiences will have to wait a few months longer for the return of Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona — the new date for the movie, to be directed by Walt Dohrn, Conrad Vernon, and Brad Ableson, is December 23, 2026. To be fair, fans have already had to wait since 2010 for the series to continue, so a few more months isn’t the end of the world.

So, what will take the now vacant summer slot vacated by Shrek? Universal has a plan, and it’s to double down on previous successes. Well, triple down, really: Minions 3 will now be released July 1, 2026, moving up significantly from its original June 30, 2027 release date. That date will now be taken up by an as-yet untiled film from Minions’ studio Illumination, which had initially been set for March 19, 2027. I know; there’s a lot of movement.

(No, we don’t know what, if anything, will take that now vacant March 19 2027 slot.)

The true takeaway is, of course, this: now that Shrek 5 is coming out during the holidays next year, we can only hope for all manner of merch with everyone dressed up in seasonal attire. If you don’t want to see Shrek as Santa Claus and Donkey as an elf, what is wrong with you?

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.