‘Shrek’ Universe Is About to Expand With a New Spinoff Focused on Fan-Favorite Character, Confirms Eddie Murphy

The Shrek universe is getting even bigger. After years of fan support and speculation, Donkey is finally getting his own movie. Eddie Murphy, who voices the hilarious and lovable sidekick, confirmed the news during an interview with Liam Crowley from ScreenRant while promoting his new film The Pickup.

Murphy revealed that while work on Shrek 5 is still ongoing, production on the Donkey spinoff will begin soon.

According to him, the voice cast is still recording lines for the fifth Shrek movie, and he’ll be stepping into the booth for Donkey’s solo film starting in September.

“No, they’re still doing voiceover stuff. We’re still in the booth, and literally, we’re still doing Shrek. We start in September on Donkey, we’re doing a Donkey one, and that’ll be three years from now, but we’re about two years into Shrek 5. Still in the booth and about to start Donkey in September.”

When asked if Donkey’s story would be a movie or a series, Murphy gave a clear answer.

“No, Donkey’s going to be like how Puss in Boots had his own movie, Donkey’s going to have his own movie, own little story with his dragon wife and his kids that are half-dragon and half-donkeys. They’ve written this funny story. We’re doing that, starting that in September.”

This news lines up with what was reported back in April 2023 when Shrek 5 was first confirmed to be in development. At that time, there were early talks about giving Donkey his own movie. Then, in June 2024, Murphy officially announced that DreamWorks had given the green light to the project and that it would move forward after Shrek 5 wrapped production.

Donkey has been a fan-favorite character since the first Shrek movie hit theaters over 20 years ago. While characters like Puss in Boots have had their own successful spin-off films, Donkey has always stayed in the main series, until now. With his loud personality, nonstop talking, and unforgettable bond with a dragon, there’s plenty of room for a wild and funny adventure of his own.

Shrek 5 is set to include a big time jump, showing Shrek’s daughter, now a teenager, voiced by Zendaya. The film will bring back Mike Myers as Shrek, Cameron Diaz as Fiona, and of course, Eddie Murphy as Donkey. It’s been a long wait, but it looks like fans of the franchise are about to get more fairy-tale chaos than ever.

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