‘Shrek’ 5 Release Date, News & Update: Sequel Coming Out in 2018?

“Shrek 5” hasn’t created any major headlines in the past two years after the studio behind the franchise was acquired by NBCUniversal in 2016. The acquisition reportedly cost $3.8 billion to finalize the deal, with the changing of hands breathing new life to the lovable ogre and his hilarious companion, Donkey.

The team behind the franchise saw the acquisition as an opportunity to shake things up for the film’s storyline, reimagining everything that audiences know so far, Polygon reported. This reinvention will be sorely needed by “Shrek 5” to be interesting.

There’s also the fact that Cameron Diaz, the voice of Fiona, already said that she’s already “retired” and it’s unclear whether or not she’ll be reprising her role in “Shrek 5.” In fact, it isn’t even clear if Fiona is included in the fifth installment.

Right now, there’s literally zero news regarding “Shrek” 5’s plotline although the script is already finished. NBCUniversal’s decision to create a fifth movie is heavily influenced by the fact that it is Dreamworks Animation’s most lucrative film under its belt. It goes without saying that finding a new approach for “Shrek” 5 was quite the challenge for the writers but it seems they found a solid avenue to explore given that the script is already finished.

“I imagine they’re particularly interested in it stepping up and actually figuring out the future of the franchise in that way on the corporate level,” screenwriter Michael McCullers said. “Reinvention was sort of called for. There’s been four movies and a lot of material, so the characters are pretty beloved and they’re great characters, but you also have to think of a pretty new take at that point.”

As for the rest of the original cast, only Eddie Murphy has confirmed that he’ll be reprising his role in “Shrek 5” while Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Antonio Banderas have been quiet so far.

There is no official release date for the fifth movie either, although it’s been slated for release sometime around 2019. It’s still unclear whether the studio is saving “Shrek” 5’s release for the summer or if it’s going to launch the film during the holiday season.