Eddie Murphy says Universal Pictures and DreamWorks’ animated ogre series will continue with at least two more movies: Shrek 5 and a solo Donkey spinoff.
Murphy, who has played Shrek’s loyal companion across the series’ four mainline installments and various spinoff stories, spelled out his future with the franchise during an interview with Collider. He says that he’s already started working on the next chapter of the DreamWorks fantasy story.
“We started doing Shrek 4 or [Shrek] 5 months ago,” Murphy said. “I did this, I recorded the first act, and we'll be doing it this year, we’ll finish it up. Shrek is coming out, and Donkey's gonna have his own movie. We're gonna do Donkey as well. So we're gonna do a Shrek, and we're doing a Donkey [movie].”
Murphy elaborates, saying Shrek 5 is expected to arrive next year. The Donkey movie will then follow sometime after that.
“No, not at the same time,” he said when asked if he was working on both projects simultaneously. “I started recording Shrek, I think it's coming out in 2025, and we're doing a Donkey one next.”
DreamWorks has been working to get Shrek 5 off the ground for years. In 2016, Trolls directors Wal Dohrn and Mike Mitchell teased that Austin Powers veteran Michael McCullers had been toiling away on a script. Then, in 2018, Variety reported that soft reboots for the franchise were in the works, and in 2023 Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri teased that a new Shrek sequel and Donkey spinoff were being looked into with hopes of bringing back the original cast.
Donkey won’t be the first of Shrek’s fantasy friends to receive their own dedicated spinoff. Puss in Boots, the ogre’s sword-wielding cat friend played by Antonio Banderas, has starred in a trio of standalone projects, including two movies and one Netflix series. His most recent outing was 2022’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, a stylized adventure that performed well among fans and critics (we gave it a 9/10 in our review).
Shrek Forever After released in May 2010, more than 14 years ago. Murphy says Shrek 5 is expected to arrive in 2025, but there is no release date for the Donkey movie. Until DreamWorks and Universal have more to share, you can head to Netflix to watch the original movie before it’s removed later next month.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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