‘Shrek 5’ Release Date Delayed to Summer 2027 Season

Fans looking forward to Shrek 5 will have to wait a little longer, as Universal Pictures and DreamWorks have pushed the film back by six months. It has been fifteen years since the release of Shrek Forever After, and in that time, the legacy of the beloved 2000s-era animated film series has only grown as millennials have gotten older. News of Shrek 5 was met with a positive reaction, though the first look at the characters led to some pushback by fans. Fortunately, the animators might have some more time to work on Shrek 5 as the film’s release date has been delayed once again.

Variety reports that Universal has set Shrek 5 for release in theaters on June 30, 2027. This marks a third release date change for the film, as it was originally announced for July 1, 2026, before being delayed to its previous date, December 23, 2026. Shrek 5 takes the release date that Universal Pictures originally had saved for an untitled Illumination Entertainment film. The cast of Shrek 5 features Mike Myers as Shrek, Eddie Murphy as Donkey, Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona, and Zendaya, who joins the franchise as Felicia, Shrek and Fiona’s daughter.

‘Shrek 5’ Will Follow ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ and ‘Minions’ Lead

DreamWorks Pictures

Shrek 5 delay from December 2026 to June 2027 could be due to a number of factors. The biggest is Avengers: Doomsday, whose delay from May 2026 to December 2026 sent shockwaves through the release schedule. Shrek might be one of the biggest names in animated film history, but opening five days after an Avengers movie, particularly one that will feature Fantastic Four and X-Men, would have been a bad call for Shrek. Now, Shrek 5 avoids competition with Avengers: Doomsday, as well as Ice Age 6, which is sticking to its December 23, 2026, release date, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three.

Universal Pictures has slated Shrek 5 for the prime Fourth of July weekend slot, one that has been incredibly beneficial to the studio. The Despicable Me and Minions franchise has dominated the holiday weekend for over a decade, with Minions 3 taking Shrek 5′s original July 1, 2026, release date. Universal’s decision to release Jurassic World: Rebirth ahead of the Fourth of July weekend on July 1, 2025, paid off big time as the movie grossed $147 million over the holiday weekend and currently has a domestic total of $326 million and $799 million worldwide. With Minions 3 and now Shrek 5, Universal Pictures will rule the Fourth of July weekend box office for the next two years.

Shrek 5 will now open five days after Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, creating a box office showdown between the two animated properties. Currently, the July 2027 slate is rather open, with A Quiet Place Part III opening on July 9, 2026, and an untitled Marvel Studios movie slated for July 23 that same year. Given the Shrek franchise’s box office history, it feels like a safe bet to say Shrek 5 will be one of the biggest movies of the summer 2027 movie season.