Shrek Box Office: Budget and Gross for Every Film

The Shrek films have earned about $4.02 billion worldwide across six releases, using Box Office Mojo's figure for each film, and the four main saga films account for about $2.98 billion of that. The table lists budget, domestic, international and worldwide gross for every release, in release order, with amounts in millions of US dollars.

The four main Shrek films earned between $489.9 million and $932.5 million worldwide, and the second film sits well clear of the rest. Shrek (2001), directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, opened the saga on a $60 million budget and took $489.9 million, roughly 8.2 times its cost, which is the best return on budget anywhere in the series. Shrek 2 (2004), directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon, cost $150 million and returned $932.5 million worldwide, including $445.0 million in North America.

Shrek the Third (2007), directed by Chris Miller and Raman Hui, had a $160 million budget and finished on $808.3 million. Shrek Forever After (2010), directed by Mike Mitchell, cost $165 million and earned $752.6 million, with $513.9 million of it coming from international markets, the largest overseas total of the four main films.

The two Puss in Boots spin offs earned about $1.04 billion worldwide between them, which is roughly a quarter of the series total. Puss in Boots (2011), directed by Chris Miller, cost $130 million and grossed $555.0 million, with Antonio Banderas voicing the title cat opposite Salma Hayek Pinault as Kitty Softpaws. Puss in Boots The Last Wish (2022), directed by Joel Crawford, cost $110 million and grossed $480.5 million, the lowest worldwide gross of the six films.

No, Box Office Mojo and The Numbers disagree on the budgets of Shrek (2001) and Shrek 2, and on the international and worldwide totals for Shrek the Third. The Numbers lists $50 million for Shrek and $70 million for Shrek 2, against Box Office Mojo's $60 million and $150 million. Every figure above follows Box Office Mojo, so the ratios stay consistent from one film to the next.

Yes, every Shrek film grossed at least four times its budget, and Shrek (2001) and Shrek 2 did the heaviest lifting. In my opinion, that makes the series a box office success on every release, and it is a strong record for a franchise from DreamWorks Animation that has run for more than two decades.

Yes, Shrek (2001) turned a $60 million budget into $489.9 million worldwide, about 8.2 times its cost, the best return in the series. Shrek 2 then spent two and a half times as much and nearly doubled the gross, to $932.5 million. It could be argued that this is the real peak of the series, since no later film came close, with Shrek the Third second at $808.3 million.

Yes, Shrek Forever After (2010), often called Shrek 4, earned $752.6 million on a $165 million budget, about 4.6 times its cost. That was the weakest return of the main four, against roughly 5.1 times for Shrek the Third and 6.2 times for Shrek 2. Its North American gross of $238.7 million was the lowest of the main films, while its $513.9 million overseas haul was the highest, so the audience shifted abroad rather than disappearing.

Shrek the Third deserves a mention here too. Screen Daily reported a North American opening weekend of about $122 million across 4,122 theaters in May 2007, an animated opening record at the time. That being said, its final $808.3 million sits below Shrek 2, and in my opinion that reads as a very large opening followed by a shorter run.

The spin offs earned back four to five times their costs, in the same range as the later main films. Puss in Boots returned about 4.3 times its $130 million budget, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish returned about 4.4 times its $110 million budget. In my opinion, the second one is the more impressive result, because it arrived eleven years after the first and still grossed $480.5 million.

No, every figure here is the gross as reported by Box Office Mojo, with no adjustment for inflation. Box Office Mojo counts each gross in the dollars of its day, so a 2001 ticket and a 2022 ticket count the same, and every ranking and ratio on the page compares those unadjusted amounts.

Shrek 5 (working title) is the next film in the saga, with a confirmed US release date of June 30, 2027, according to Variety. Variety reported in August 2025 that the date moved from December 23, 2026. The series has not had a main saga release since 2010, so the fifth film will be tested against a very different theatrical market from the four before it. If you want the full viewing sequence first, start with the Shrek movies in order, or see how the films compare on quality in Shrek movies ranked.