The film is directed by Walt Dohrn and Conrad Vernon and co-directed by Brad Ableson from a screenplay written by Michael McCullers, and produced by Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri and Gina Shay.

Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz will reprise their respective voice roles as the title character, Donkey, and Princess Fiona from the previous films.

Eventually, development resurfaced in 2014 and Universal Pictures officially confirmed production of a fifth Shrek film when its parent company, NBCUniversal, bought DreamWorks Animation in 2016 with updates following from March 2017 to July 2024.

Then, about a year into the development, Jeffrey Katzenberg decided that the story that we'd come up with was the right way for Shrek's journey to end, which was incredibly flattering".

[6] In February 2014, during an interview with Fox Business, Katzenberg hinted that a fifth film may still be made: "We like to let them have a little bit of time to rest", he said of the characters.

[21] In April 2023, Meledandri confirmed a fifth Shrek film was in development, with the original cast—Murphy, Mike Myers, and Cameron Diaz—in negotiations to reprise their roles.

[1] In January 2025, the film's release date was pushed back to December 23, 2026, with Illumination's Minions 3 taking its previous slot.