Kung Fu Panda 4 Film
Kung Fu Panda 4 is an upcoming animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the fourth installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, and the sequel to Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016). The film is directed by Mike Mitchell and co-directed by Stephanie Ma Stine, and features Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, and Ian McShane reprising their roles from the previous films, with Awkwafina, Viola Davis, and Ke Huy Quan joining the cast as new characters.
Directors Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni were asked about the possibility of a fourth Kung Fu Panda film prior to the release of the third film in January 2016, with Nelson later saying in August 2018 that she was open to a fourth installment. DreamWorks officially announced the fourth film in August 2022, with Mitchell, Ma Stine, and Rebecca Huntley attached as director, co-director, and producer respectively by April 2023. Most of the main voice cast was announced in December 2023, following Awkwafina’s casting in May of that year.
Kung Fu Panda 4 is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on March 8, 2024.
Kung Fu Panda 4 Film
STORY
Po, who is set to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, searches for his successor as the new Dragon Warrior while fighting a new foe called “The Chameleon”.
CAST
- Jack Black as Po, a giant panda who is set to become a spiritual leader after renouncing his title as the Dragon Warrior.
- Awkwafina as Zhen, a corsac fox who is a thief and accompanies Po on his journey.
- Viola Davis as The Chameleon, an evil shapeshifting chameleon sorceress who can copy the kung fu of others by absorbing their abilities.
- Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, a red panda and Po’s wise master.
- James Hong as Mr. Ping, Po’s adoptive Chinese goose father.
- Bryan Cranston as Li Shan, Po’s biological giant panda father.
- Ian McShane as Tai Lung, a snow leopard who was Shifu’s adopted son and former disciple until he turned to evil. He was vanquished by Po in the first film, but is brought back from the Spirit Realm by the Chameleon.
- Ke Huy Quan as Han, a Sunda pangolin who is a leader of a den of thieves.
- Lori Tan Chinn as Granny Boar, a boar that can take out her tusks and use them as weapons.
- Ronny Chieng as a fish boat captain that lives in a pelican’s mouth.
PRODUCTION
On December 3, 2010, then-DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said that there was a possibility the series could have three more sequels after Kung Fu Panda 3, bringing it to a six-film series. On January 13, 2016, Collider asked the filmmakers of Kung Fu Panda 3 about the possibility of a fourth film. Co-director Jennifer Yuh Nelson stated, “It’s one at a time. We want to make this a perfect jewel, and then we’ll see what happens after that”. Co-director Alessandro Carloni said, “With the sequels, we don’t want to try to have them feel open-ended. We want it to feel like a completed journey, and we feel this movie does. And then, if a fantastic story presents itself, great”. On August 2, 2018, when asked about the possibility of Kung Fu Panda 4, Nelson replied that she always saw the series as a trilogy, but was open for a fourth installment as long the franchise focused on Po.
In August 2022, DreamWorks Animation confirmed that Kung Fu Panda 4 was in production. At CinemaCon in April 2023, more details for the film were revealed, such as the premise as described by Jack Black. It was also announced that Mike Mitchell was set to direct the film, with Stephanie Ma Stine co-directing and Rebecca Huntley producing.
It will be one of the last two films to be made entirely by DreamWorks Animation in-house at their Glendale campus alongside The Wild Robot. Cartoon Brew reported in October 2023 that DreamWorks was moving away from producing films in-house to rely more heavily on outside studios after 2024, as part of a layoff by chief operating officer Randy Lake in a series of meetings the previous month. According to the report, Sony Pictures Imageworks was named as the animation service for DreamWorks’ Dog Man and two other unannounced films scheduled for 2025.
RELEASE
March 8, 2024
