With less than a year to go until DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek 5 arrives in cinemas in summer 2027, Universal is building on the extraordinary, enduring popularity of one of animation’s biggest franchises with new retail and partner activity across EMEA.
Twenty-five years after audiences first met Shrek, Donkey and Fiona, the franchise continues to connect across generations. In 2025 alone, audiences streamed an extraordinary 368 million hours of Shrek content, while recent consumer research ranked Shrek the #1 property for fanship among 18-34-year-olds across 75 properties tested1. The results reflect a uniquely broad audience, spanning original fans who grew up with the movies, Gen Z audiences who have embraced Shrek through digital and meme culture, and children and families discovering Far, Far Away for the first time.
In 2026, a new generation of fans stepped into the swamp with the opening of Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, Texas. DreamWorks’ Shrek’s Swamp brings the franchise to life through family-friendly attractions, interactive play areas, character encounters, themed food and merchandise for kids and their grown-ups.
Now, that fandom is rallying around a major new cinematic chapter. Arriving in cinemas in summer 2027, Shrek 5 will reunite comedy legends Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz as Shrek, Donkey and Fiona, alongside global star Zendaya. The film will be supported by a comprehensive cross-company ‘Symphony’ campaign spanning film, television, streaming, consumer products, theme parks and digital experiences. Universal is developing a programme designed to give partners opportunities to engage with Shrek’s broad, multigenerational audience throughout the journey to release and beyond.
The next wave of that activity will roll out across EMEA during the 2026 festive retail period, with a range of partner activity bringing Shrek’s unmistakable humour, characters and visual identity to consumers.
Across EMEA, excitement is building with locally relevant retail, fan experiences, events and partnerships launching this Q4. In the UK & Ireland, activity will include campaigns with ASDA, The Entertainer and The Works, while across Europe, moments such as San Diego Comic-Con Málaga, Shrek’s 25th anniversary theatrical re-release in Italy and Shrek The Musical in Paris will bring the franchise to life for local audiences. Additional retail and shopping centre activations across the region, including mall activations at Klépierre Malls in France, will create further opportunities to engage consumers and keep Shrek culturally relevant, building momentum ahead of the film’s theatrical release.
The activity is the beginning of a much broader runway for Shrek, with Universal looking beyond Shrek 5 through an ambitious content roadmap.
Since Shrek arrived in 2001 and became the first-ever winner of the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature, Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and the inhabitants of Far, Far Away have become an indelible part of global popular culture.
The four Shrek films have generated more than $2.9 billion at the worldwide box office, while the franchise has expanded far beyond cinema through consumer products, theme-park experiences, live entertainment, an award-winning Broadway musical and an enormous digital following. That breadth has given Shrek a rare ability to continually reinvent itself for new audiences without losing the fans who fell in love with the franchise the first time around. Today, Shrek ranks as the second-biggest animated franchise of all time, with a breadth of appeal that gives licensees and retailers, including master toy partners LEGO and Just Play, the ability to reach children, families, nostalgic fans and culturally engaged Gen Z audiences through a single global property.
And Shrek 5 is only the beginning of the franchise’s next chapter. In 2028, Donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy, is set to take centre stage in his first spin-off movie, exploring the origins of one of the franchise’s most beloved characters. With an ambitious long-term content pipeline, always-on consumer engagement and the return of Shrek, Fiona and Donkey to cinemas on the horizon, Far, Far Away is getting closer.
