All that glitters is gold when it comes to Dreamworks’ new film announcement, with the animation studio revealing Thursday (Feb. 27) that a fifth Shrek movie is in the works featuring Zendaya as the beloved ogre’s daughter.
In a teaser clip shared on YouTube, the Spiderman star (who has landed six songs on the Billboard Hot 100) makes her debut as her brand new swamp-inhabiting character while watching the Mike Myers-voiced titular character scrolling through videos on his magic mirror. When Shrek comes across an edited photo of himself looking unrealistically buff, Zendaya’s redheaded ogress retches and exclaims, “Ew, dad!”
“Ooh, mommy like,” Cameron Diaz’s Fiona says approvingly before Shrek asks, “Who’s making this stuff?”
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Also returning for Shrek 5 is Eddie Murphy, who voices Shrek’s famous four-legged sidekick, Donkey. According to Dreamworks, the latest chapter of the fairytale is coming to theaters Christmas 2026, following the original 2001 Shrek, 2004’s Shrek 2, 2007’s Shrek the Third and 2010’s Shrek Forever After.
The singer-actress’ latest gig comes after years of being a fan of the animated franchise, with Zendaya tweeting back in 2017, “I watch Shrek too often in my adulthood” — a screenshot of which the official Shrek Instagram account shared on the day of the fifth film’s announcement. “This aged well,” reads the caption.
Prior to joining Shrek 5, Zendaya earned critical acclaim — and a 2025 best actress Golden Globe nomination, which she ended up losing to The Substance‘s Demi Moore — for her performance as Tashi Duncan in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers. She’s also expected to return for a long-awaited third season of Euphoria, which started production this year.
Watch the Shrek 5 cast announcement above.
