The beginning of 2026 also means the beginning of the 25th anniversary of one of the greatest and most influential animated comedies to ever grace the big screen — Shrek. In 2001, DreamWorks made a statement with the release of the first installment of their blockbuster franchise based on the picture book by William Steig. Featuring edgier humor, pop culture references, new twists on the fairytale tropes Disney had long leaned on, and an iconic green ogre at the center of it all, it paved the way for a new, more diverse era of animated family comedies that would continue to iterate on the medium. With a fifth film on the way, 16 years after Shrek Forever After seemingly closed the storybook, the genre-defining original that started it all has now returned to the streaming charts, hitting #2 globally on HBO Max.
Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and hailing from a writing team of Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, the first Shrek film introduced the solitary ogre, voiced by Mike Myers. While he once enjoyed a peaceful life in his swamp, scaring away anyone who dared trespass on his land, that existence is interrupted by an annoying talking Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and a variety of other fairytale creatures kicked off their land by the greedy Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). To get everybody out of his swamp, Shrek meets with Farquaad and agrees to go on an adventure to rescue the Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) for him, in exchange for a mass relocation. Rescuing the princess from a dragon that falls head over heels for Donkey is the easy part, though, as Fiona’s terrible secret changes everything for the ogre.
Shrek was a big breakthrough for DreamWorks, scoring $492.5 million at the box office and beginning its first real franchise. The release of Shrek 2, viewed as arguably the best in the series, however, solidified the series and its style by expanding the world to include more fairy tales and a much bigger threat to Shrek and Fiona’s love story in Prince Charming and his Fairy Godmother. Between two more installments and two Puss-in-Boots movies starring Antonio Banderas’s swashbuckling tabby cat, the entire franchise has brought in over $4 billion worldwide to date. Shrek 5 will look to keep the run of success going when it releases on June 30, 2027.
‘Shrek 5’ Expands the Family With Some Big New Names
All three of Myers, Diaz, and Murphy are set to reprise their roles in the fifth installment of the fairytale franchise, which will be directed by Shrek veterans Conrad Vernon and Walt Dohrn. They’ll be joined by some fresh faces, though. Zendaya was the first new member of the family to be confirmed in a teaser, playing Shrek and Fiona’s now-teenage daughter Felicia. On Thanksgiving, it was also confirmed that Superman’s Skyler Gisondo and SNL’s Marcello Hernández would round out the green-skinned couple’s triplets as brothers Fergus and Farkle. A sequel isn’t the only project on the docket for Shrek, as Murphy’s Donkey will get a chance to shine in a spin-off of his own that’s currently in the works.
In the meantime, Shrek is now streaming on HBO Max. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the future of the animated comedy franchise as further updates come out.
Release Date
May 18, 2001
Runtime
90 minutes
Director
Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
Writers
Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, Roger S.H. Schulman, Ted Elliott, William Steig, J.M. Barrie, Carlo Collodi
Producers
Aron Warner, David Lipman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, John H. Williams, Penney Finkelman Cox
Shrek / Blind Mouse (voice)
Eddie Murphy
Donkey (voice)