As Smash Mouth once said, “Hey now, you’re a rock star, get the show on, get paid.” Zendaya will do just that in her role as the voice of Shrek and Fiona’s teenage daughter in DreamWorks’ upcoming Shrek 5. The news was announced today in a short teaser celebrating some of the best Shrek memes from over the years. The plot of the film is being kept hidden under layers of studio secrecy, but Mike Myers (Shrek), Cameron Diaz (Fiona), and Eddie Murphy (Donkey) have all been confirmed to return.
This may not be the path one would expect for an actor who’s worked with acclaimed directors like Luca Guadagnino (Challengers), Denis Villeneuve (Duneand Dune: Part Two), and Christopher Nolan (for his upcoming Odysseyfilm) recently, but for Zendaya, it seems like a dream come true. The actor has spoken multiple times about how much she loves Shrek. (Stars—they’re just like us!) In 2021, she told InStylethat Shrek was a “staple” in her household after “heavy” days on the set of Euphoria. Four years earlier, she tweeted that she “watch[ed] Shrek too often in my adulthood.” Well congratulations are in order; now she’ll have an excuse to watch it way more.
Shrek 5 is currently slated to emerge from the swamp on December 23, 2026. (It was originally supposed to premiere July 1, but the date was pushed back to leave room for more Minions.) It’ll be our first official check-in with the citizens of Far Far Away since Shrek Forever After in 2010. The franchise has also spawned two feline film spinoffs, Puss In Boots and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, as well as a television series, The Adventures Of Puss In Boots, in the interim.
It’s good that Zendaya landed this part now, because she’s about to have more heavy days (and may need an ogre-shaped distraction) while filming Euphoria season three. The long-awaited next installment of the HBO series is miraculously in production after a three-year gap and numerous false starts. A24 even released a first-look photo of Zendaya’s Rue earlier this month. We were skeptical, but to again quote the great Shrek soundtrack, we saw her face… and now we’re believers.
