Fans were caught by surprise this summer when Dreamworks announced Kung Fu Panda 4 — a belated sequel to the media franchise that began way back in 2008. The movie is reportedly in production now and is scheduled to premiere in theaters in 2024. Dreamworks confirmed that Jack Black will reprise his role as the voice of Po Ping.
Kung Fu Panda has been a steady money-maker since the first movie premiered nearly a decade and a half ago. it was followed by Kung Fu Panda 2 in 2011 and Kung Fu Panda 3 in 2016, but it didn’t stop there. Although there hasn’t been a theatrical release in six years, the franchise has been kept alive in streaming-exclusive series including Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness from 2011 to 2016 and The Paws of Destiny from 2016 to 2018. Now, Po is going back to the big screen at last.
This is the moment you’ve all been waiting 4. #KungFuPanda 4 hits theaters on March 8, 2024. pic.twitter.com/7xufMNOgyL
— DreamWorks Animation (@Dreamworks) August 12, 2022
So far, all we know about Kung Fu Panda 4 is that Black is reprising his role and that it is slated for release on March 8, 2024. Even that isn’t set in stone, of course, as these far-flung release dates often change. As for Black, he voiced Po in the original three movies and in several video shorts, but not in the two TV shows mentioned above. However, he did reprise the rolethis summer in the series Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, which aired as a Netflix original series.
The new movie may be a return to old plans made at Dreamworks over a decade ago. In a 2010 interview with Empire, Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said that Kung Fu Panda was outlined as two film trilogies – one “student” story arc and one “master” story arc. That means KFP4 could be the beginning of Po’s time handing down his hard-earned knowledge.
Katzenberg is no longer with Dreamworks, and later interviews seemed to downplay this idea. Additionally, some fans figured that Kung Fu Panda‘s success outside of movies may have caused the company to pivot a bit. Its animated series were extremely successful, and its TV specials and short films left a strong impression. The franchise has also spawned many video games at this point.
Some critics have also argued that Kung Fu Panda couldn’t be made today as audiences are more sensitive to appropriate casting and representation. A retrospective review by Darren Franich for Entertainment Weekly argues that today’s audiences wouldn’t be pleased to see Black, Angelina Jolie, David Cross and other white actors playing these characters and making light of Chinese mythology.
With Black at least returning to the role of Po, these conversations are sure to come up again in 2024. Kung Fu Panda 4 is in production now and is slated for release on March 8, 2024.
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