Kung Fu Panda is an animated movie and media franchise by Dreamworks Animation. It was first released in 2008 and now has three films followed in 20011 and 2016.
Paramount Pictures distributed two of the first films, and 20th Century Fox distributed the third.
The animated franchise is set in a fantasy wuxia genre version of ancient China. Its population and characters of the film are anthropomorphic animals.
It follows a giant panda named ‘Po Ping,’ who was chosen to be the prophesied Dragon Warrior. However, his title was initially doubted by his colleagues. Po strives and proves to them that he is worthy of fulfilling his destiny as a martial artist.
The movie trilogy has been a success, having a global box office gross of more than $1.7 billion US dollars. Because of its unique genre and the effervescence, mantra, and zany charm of Jack Black, who voice acted Po, many viewers and fans will not say no to the film’s fourth franchise.
After the third movie in 2016, we can assure that there have been many conversations and brainstorming on producers concerning a film sequel. However, they have been quiet, and there is no news on its development.
The CEO of Dreamworks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, has stated that the trilogy can have another three sequels.
For now, here are all the things we need to know about ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’.
Kung Fu Panda 4: Plot
To better understand the possible plot of ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’, let us look back on the three movies.
The first movie established the setting, timeline, characters, and core plot of the films. It was where Po discovered his natural talent and a place for his passion for martial arts to grow. With his newfound friends’ help, he defeated the former student and enemy Tai Lung.
In the second movie, picking up from the first film as Po continues his training and journey of living the Dragon Warrior’s responsibility.
You can already notice a few teasers for an upcoming third film, as the story passes that his father is alive and living in the hidden Panda village.
The third movie, however, did not tease us anything for an upcoming fourth film but takes us to the complete story of Po as a warrior and a teacher.
The story ended excellently, with Po mastered the harnessing of Chi’s ability and defeating Kai’s formidable opponent. This has earned him Master Oogway’s Yin Yang Staff, which was given to him from the spirit realm.
From the three films, we can already expect some of the future stories of Po, the Furious Five, and the community to come together.
Kung Fu Panda 4 will follow the common route of having one empowered antagonist from China’s culture or history fighting against Po, revealing some of Po or other main characters’ past that many of us are yet to know.
The right warm-hearted story composition is not the only highlight of the film. Viewers are much anticipating the signature humor, gorgeous and colorful animation. As of now, it is still hard to tell how the production would make the overall enhancement.
One major clue for the plot of Kung Fu Panda 4 is the current release of its television series ‘Paws of Destiny’.
We can follow the trail of Po training four little pandas who happen to absorb the chi of four ancient kung fu masters known as the Black Tortoise, Blue Dragon, Red Phoenix, and White Tiger.
This story has plotted adversity that the children must face, and it is up to Po to train them on how to use their powers.
It would make perfect sense since Po in the third movie has followed the path to become a teacher. Either way, the producers will most likely find a way to include this in the fourth movie’s plot, should there be any.
Kung Fu Panda 4: Cast and Crew
The series’s cast has proven their talents for the three movies a will most likely still be in the fourth film.
The main characters are played by Jack Black who plays Po, Angelina Jolie playing Tigress, David Cross as Master Crane, Bryan Cranston plays Li Shan, Dustin Hoffman who plays Master Shifu, Jackie Chan playing the famous Master Monkey, Lucy Liu as Master Viper, Seth Rogan who plays Master Mantis, Kate Hudson playing Mei Mei and Randall Duk Kim as the Grand Master Oogway.
Indeed, Dreamworks will finance the film, however, the director’s chair is still uncertain. The same crew of the company will most likely retain.
A wild guess for the director would be Jennifer Nelson. Her film on the second franchise has brought the franchise the highest gross. We should also consider Hans Zimmer for a possible return.
Kung Fu Panda 4: Release Date
Dreamwork has recently laid off almost half of its employees due to the underperformance of some projects.
Their solution to the problem will involve lowering the production budget while producing two movies per year to maximize creative output. While in an official report and assessment, we will not see the fourth film of Kung Fu Panda anytime soon.
With this, there are still no official statements of an upcoming fourth franchise of the film. If there will be an announcement along this time, it will probably be released in 2022.
Kung Fu Panda 4: Movie Trailer
Since there is no news and update of the fourth film, there has been no movie trailer of Kung Fu Panda 4.
You might see fan-made trailers that depict fans’ thoughts and ideas, should there be a fourth film. As of the moment, you may watch the trailers of the first, second, and third film.
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