Universal Pictures has officially changed the Shrek 5 release date for the highly-anticipated next installment to DreamWorks Animation‘s popular animated franchise. The movie was originally slated for a July 1,

Shrek 5 has had its release date pushed back to December 2026, it has been confirmed. Universal Pictures, which owns DreamWorks Animation and Illumination, announced (via Variety) that the fifth outing for the grumpy ogre and his fairytale friends has been delayed from July 1 to December 23.

Universal has announced that DreamWorks Animation’s “Shrek 5” will be moving from July 1, 2026, to Dec. 23, 2026. In its place, Universal will open Illumination’s “Minions 3,” which was previously supposed to come out a year later (June 30, 2027). That’s the kind of chaotic scheduling a minion would really embrace.

There's some bad news for Shrek fans today as the long-awaited fifth movie has just been delayed. However, fans of the Despicable Me franchise will be pleased to learn about Minion 3's new release date.

At the same time, the studio said Friday it is moving up Illumination’s Minions 3 from June 30, 2027 to Shrek 5 ‘s previous July 2026 date. That’s because the Minions and Gru have ruled the Independence Day frame for quite some time, most recently with Despicable Me 4 minting a $230M global opening last summer.

Shrek's cinematic return is still coming, but he'll have to wait for the Minions to get done taking over summer 2026.