Universal Pictures is adjusting its movie release calendar for upcoming titles from two venerable animation franchises.
The studio announced Friday that DreamWorks Animation‘s Shrek 5 is now set for release on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2026, after previously having been dated for July 1, 2026. Walt Dohrn and Conrad Vernon are directing Shrek 5 with Brad Ableson as co-director. Gina Shay and Chris Meledandri produce the film that sees the return of voice stars Mike Myers (Shrek), Eddie Murphy (Donkey) and Cameron Diaz (Fiona).
In a twinned move, Minions 3 from Illumination is now set to hit theaters on July 1, 2026, moving up from its previously planned release date of June 30, 2027. Pierre Coffin, who directed the first three Despicable Me films and the first Minions spinoff movie, is helming Minions 3 from a script from Brian Lynch. Coffin voices the yellow mischief-makers that were introduced as sidekicks to former supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) in the 2010 title Despicable Me.
Universal also announced that an untitled event film from Illumination will now take over Minions 3′s previous release date of Wednesday, June 30, 2027, after the untitled movie was initially planned to hit theaters on March 19, 2027.
The Minions were last seen on the big screen in 2024’s Despicable Me 4, which followed the 2022 release of the characters’ second spinoff film, Minions: The Rise of Gru. Between the Despicable Me and Minions movies, the Minions characters have helped push the franchise to nearly $5 billion at the worldwide box office.
Shrek 5 is timed to hit theaters in celebration of 25 years since the franchise’s first movie was released in 2001. Focusing on the titular misunderstood ogre and his fairytale friends, the series’ four theatrical movies have surpassed $2.9 billion at the global box office. The most recent title was 2010’s Shrek Forever After. It also spawned two spinoff movies, centered on Antonio Banderas’ Puss in Boots, with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish arriving in 2022.
