Zendaya has been tapped to star in Shrek 5 as one of the first new actors to join the franchise.

The in-demand star, who had Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers and Dune: Part Two film last year, is currently in production on Euphoria and already has Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and Spider-Man 4 on her to-do list.

Now, the 28-year-old will join Shrek veterans Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz for the film’s fifth installment. Zendaya will add a new element to the 25-year-old franchise as the daughter to Diaz’s Fiona and Myers’ Shrek.

Launched in 2001, Shrek quickly gained critical acclaim and earned an Oscar. The film follows the titular ogre who ultimately falls for the princess of Far Far Away, Fiona, who becomes trapped in an ogre’s body thanks to a curse.

With Murphy as Donkey, the film became an instant hit thanks to its focus on love, an unlikely friendship between an ogre and a donkey, and its twist on beloved fairy tales like The Gingerbread Man and Robin Hood.

When asked if he would be willing to voice his beloved character in a fifth installment, Murphy previously said he would “absolutely be open.”

“If they ever came with another Shrek I’d do it in two seconds,” he said during a 2023 Etalk interview. “I love Donkey.”

He also questioned why his character never got a spinoff in the franchise like Puss in Boots starring Antonio Banderas, which, thanks to two films, helped propel Shrek into the second-biggest film in animation history, raking in $2.9 billion globally.

“They’re doing Puss in Boots movies,” Murphy said. “I was like, ‘They shoulda done a Donkey movie. Donkey’s funnier than Puss in Boots. I mean I love Puss in Boots, but he ain’t funnier than Donkey.”

Shrek 5, helmed by DreamWorks Animation and Universal, will be directed by franchise veterans Walt Dohrn and Conrad Vernon, along with Minions: The Rise of Gru co-director Brad Ableson. The latest film will be the first in the main series since the 2010 release of Shrek Forever After.

Shrek 5 is slated for release on Dec. 23, 2026.

Michael Myers

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