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Kung Fu Panda 4

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Kung Fu Panda 4 is a 2024 American 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 was directed by Mike Mitchell, co-directed by Stephanie Ma Stine, written by Darren Lemke and the writing team of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and produced by Rebecca Huntley. It features Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, and Ian McShane reprising their roles from the previous films, with Awkwafina, Ke Huy Quan, Ronny Chieng, Lori Tan Chinn, and Viola Davis joining the cast as new characters. In the film, Po (Black), who must find and train his successor as the new Dragon Warrior, teams up with fox bandit Zhen (Awkwafina) to defeat the evil sorceress, the Chameleon (Davis), before she steals the kung-fu abilities of all masters in China.

Directors Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni were asked about the possibility of a fourth Kung Fu Panda film before 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 Huntley attached as director, co-director, and producer, respectively, by April 2023. Most of the main voice cast, along with the return of Aibel and Berger as writers and co-producers, was announced in December 2023, following Awkwafina's casting in May of that year. Composer Hans Zimmer, who had scored for the previous three installments, the first two with John Powell and the third alone, returned as composer alongside frequent collaborator Steve Mazzaro. Some additional production assets were borrowed from Jellyfish Pictures.

Kung Fu Panda 4 premiered at the AMC 14 Theater at The Grove in Los Angeles on March 3, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 8. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed $420 million worldwide, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2024.

Plot[]

In the Valley of Peace, Po helps his adoptive father, Mr. Ping, and his biological father, Li Shan, open their new restaurant. Master Shifu then tells Po that he must advance and become a spiritual leader, which means Po can no longer be the Dragon Warrior and must find a suitable successor to take his place. Po struggles to choose the right candidate as he doesn't want to loose his status as the Dragon Warrior. However, he stumbles upon a fox bandit named Zhen trying to steal ancient weapons from the Jade Palace. Po is able to outsmart Zhen and send her to prison. A group of mine workers tell him that his old enemy Tai Lung has returned and destroyed an entire quarry. Zhen reveals that Tai Lung's return was masqueraded by a sorceress known as the Chameleon, who can shape-shift into any animal she wants as well as copying various Kung fu techniques simply by touching them.

With Zhen's assistance, Po heads to Juniper City to take down the Chameleon, little knowing that his worried fathers are following them. They encounter a shifty tavern and fight off the inhabitants. They arrive at Juniper City, where they are almost arrested and escape to the Den of Thieves, where they receive aid from the den's leader Han, who is also a close friend of Zhen. From there, Po and Zhen head to the Chameleon's lair until Po is captured. It is then revealed that Zhen has been acting as a double agent for the Chameleon; her task was to acquire Po's Staff of Wisdom, which has the power to access the Spirit Realm. Po almost manages to escape, but the Chameleon fools him and throws him off a cliff. He nearly falls to his death, but is rescued by his fathers, who convince him that sometimes change can be good.

Using the staff, the Chameleon summons every deceased martial arts master to steal their kung fu, including Tai Lung, Lord Shen, and General Kai.Template:NoteTag Zhen reunites with Po, but he refuses to back down from facing the Chameleon, so she, Ping and Li head back to the Den of Thieves to convince them to help them save Po. As they battle the Chameleon's army of Komodo Dragons, Po attempts to reason with the Chameleon to no avail. They battle, but when Zhen intervenes, the Chameleon turns into a Chimera of several kung fu masters. After the battle, she then shifts into a copycat of Po, fights him, and soon traps him in a cage. Putting his trust in Zhen, Po gives her the Staff of Wisdom, with which she bests the Chameleon. Po, who was only pretending to be trapped, defeats the Chameleon using the staff and returns all of the stolen kung fu to their owners, who show respect to Po and return to the Spirit Realm; Tai Lung takes the Chameleon with him.

Po chooses Zhen as his successor at the Valley of Peace, much to Shifu's annoyance. Confident of his choice, Po and the Furious Five help train Zhen to become the next Dragon Warrior.

Voice cast[]

Main article: List of Kung Fu Panda characters
  • Jack Black as Po, a giant panda who is set to become a spiritual leader after renouncing his title as the Dragon Warrior.[7]
  • Awkwafina as Zhen, a corsac fox who is a wanted thief and accompanies Po on his journey.[7]
  • Viola Davis as The Chameleon, a nefarious shape-shifting chameleon sorceress that can copy others' kung fu by absorbing their abilities and the adoptive mother of Zhen.[7]
  • Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, a wise red panda and Po's master.[7]
  • James Hong as Mr. Ping, a Chinese goose and Po's adoptive father.[7]
  • Bryan Cranston as Li Shan, Po's biological father.[7]
  • Ian McShane as Tai Lung, a snow leopard who was Shifu's adopted son and former disciple until he became evil. Po vanquished him to the Spirit Realm in the first film and General Kai captured him off-screen during the third film, but the Chameleon brings him back from the Spirit Realm.[7]
  • Ke Huy Quan as Han, a Sunda pangolin who is the leader of a den of thieves.[7]
  • Lori Tan Chinn as Granny Boar, an elderly female boar who can take out her tusks and use them as weapons.[8]
  • Ronny Chieng as Captain Fish, a green arowana that lives in a pelican's mouth, who is his seemingly adoptive mother.
  • Harry Shum Jr. as Scott, a fire-breathing crocodile who was sent to the Spirit Realm by Po.

The Furious Five make a brief non-speaking appearance in the end credits with the exception of Seth Rogen providing screams for Mantis. Lord Shen and General Kai also have non-speaking appearances when The Chameleon is summoning villains from the Spirit Realm. YouTuber Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson has a cameo as Panda Pig, a pig with black-and-white paint who is one of the candidates for the next Dragon Warrior.[9]

Production[]

Development[]

TBA

Writing[]

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For the Chameleon, Mitchell sought to make her a more-brain-than-brawn kind of villain.[8] He went on to say that she is the smartest and most supernatural foe Po has faced.[10][11] He described Chameleon as a mirror to Po in that both characters were underestimated by society for their bodies, but went on to gain high status. He said, "So Po has become the greatest hero, and now she's the greatest villain".[11] Mitchell felt that one of the things the Kung Fu Panda franchise stands out for, aside from Black's Po, are its villains, so he made sure that the Chameleon could be as formidable as Tai Lung, Lord Shen and General Kai, hence his reasoning to specifically bring the former back into this sequel's story.[12]

Casting[]

TBA

Animation and design[]

Mitchell stated that the film's fight scenes reflect advances in both technology and kung fu,[8] and took more influence from anime than previous films in the series.[11] Stunt performers from Marvel films joined production to give the animators moves to study and use in the choreography.[8] The Chameleon was DreamWorks' most complex character to animate, with a total of 8,130 controls.[13] While most of the animation for the film was provided by DreamWorks Animation Glendale, Jellyfish Pictures—who previously worked with DreamWorks on How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming, Spirit Untamed, The Boss Baby: Family Business, and The Bad Guys—handled the additional asset production services using proprietary software like Premo and Moonray.

Kung Fu Panda 4 and The Wild Robot will be the last two films to be made entirely in-house at DreamWorks Animation, as Cartoon Brew reported on October 6, 2023, that the studio would be moving away from producing films in-house in their Glendale campus to rely more heavily on outside studios after 2024.[14]

Music[]

In December 2023, Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro, the former of whom also composed for the first three films, were announced to compose the film's score.[15] A cover of Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time" by Tenacious D is featured in the end credits. The album was released on March 8, 2024, simultaneously with the movie's release, by Back Lot Music.

Marketing[]

Po returned to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in November 2023 as promotion for the film.[16] The trailer for the film, featuring The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army", along with a poster, was released on December 13, 2023. The trailer was viewed over 142 million times in the first 24 hours across all social media, becoming the most-viewed trailer for a Universal animated film, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Sing 2 and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.[17]

Release[]

Theatrical[]

Kung Fu Panda 4 premiered at the AMC 14 Theater at The Grove in Los Angeles on March 3, 2024, and was released in the United States on March 8,[18][19] with showtimes a day prior.[20] The film was shown at the Columbia University School of the Arts on March 1, 2024.[21]

Home media[]

Kung Fu Panda 4 was released on digital download on April 9, 2024, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.[22][23]

As part of Universal's deal with Netflix, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next ten, and returning to Peacock for the remaining four.[24][25]

Reception[]

Box office[]

As of April 11, 2024, Kung Fu Panda 4 has grossed $168.2 million in the United States and Canada and $251.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $420.1 million.[6][5]

TBA

Critical response[]

Most of the reviews Kung Fu Panda 4 received were positive.[26] On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 72% of 6.1 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 142/10. On the website, the critics' consensus reads, "Kung Fu Panda 4 offers enough eye-catching entertainment to sustain the franchise's young fans, although it's starting to feel like this series is running out of steam." Using a weighted average calculator, Metacritic assigned the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale (the same as the first film), while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 80% overall positive score, with 59% saying they would recommend it.[27]

TBA

Future[]

On December 3, 2010, then-DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg officially confirmed that the series could see two more sequels after Kung Fu Panda 4, bringing it to a six-film series.[28] Mitchell and Huntley were asked on December 14, 2023, if Katzenberg's original plan would still be carried out, to which Mitchell said that Kung Fu Panda 4 may launch a new trilogy if no one gets tired of seeing Jack Black return as Po, while Huntley affirmed that the filmmakers behind Kung Fu Panda 4 focused on making it the franchise's "greatest" film and that whether sequels will be made is something to discuss later.[29]

Notes[]

Template:NoteFoot

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.[TBA "FIND YOUR INNER PEACE WITH PO: DREAMWORKS ANIMATION UNVEILS "BE CALM AND PO" CUSTOM ANIMATION LIVESTREAM FOR "KUNG FU PANDA 4""] Check |url= value (help) (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  2. ↑ [TBA Kung Fu Panda 4 (PG)].
  3. ↑ [TBA Kung Fu Panda 4]. The Numbers.
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Variety-Proj
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 [TBA Kung Fu Panda 4 — Financial Information].
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 [TBA Kung Fu Panda 4]. Box Office Mojo.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named casting:independent
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Grebey, James (December 13, 2023). [TBA Kung Fu Panda 4 Director Teases Epic Fights & New Characters From Awkwafina, Viola Davis & More].
  9. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Milheim, Russ (March 8, 2024). [TBA "Kung Fu Panda 4: Mr. Beast's Special Panda Pig Cameo Explained"] Check |url= value (help). Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named AUReview Interview
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Collider Tai Lung
  12. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named OriginalCircleTaiLungReturn
  13. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Giardina, Carolyn (March 9, 2024). [TBA "'Kung Fu Panda 4's' Chameleon Was One of Dreamworks' Most Complex Creations: 'Every Little Spike on Her Head...Was Completely Animatable'"] Check |url= value (help). Variety. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  14. ↑ Amidi, Amid (October 6, 2023). [TBA Dreamworks Shifting Away From In-House Production In Los Angeles; Sony Imageworks Is A New Production Partner] (en-US).
  15. ↑ Billings, Kevin (December 14, 2023). [TBA Kung Fu Panda 4 gets Hans Zimmer twist fans will love]. Clutch Points.
  16. ↑ [TBA Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade recap: All the floats, performances and more]. NBC News (November 23, 2023).
  17. ↑ [TBA 'Kung Fu Panda 4' Trailer Racked Up 142 Million Views on Launch Day, Powered by TikTok] (15 December 2023).
  18. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hogan, Kate (March 3, 2024). [TBA "Kung Fu Panda 4 Premiered Tonight and Everyone Was There: See the Photos!"] Check |url= value (help). People. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  19. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Confirmation
  20. ↑ Whittaker, Richard (March 8, 2024). [TBA Kung Fu Panda 4]. Austin Chronicle. “Thu., March 7 digital 2:00, 3:15, 4:55, 6:00, 7:45, 8:30, 11:15”
  21. ↑ dos
  22. ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.[TBA Kung Fu Panda 4 | Official Site | DreamWorks] Check |url= value (help). Retrieved April 9, 2024 – via www.dreamworks.com.
  23. ↑ Dick, Jeremy (2024-04-08). [TBA Kung Fu Panda 4 Gets Digital Release Date, Includes Bonus Short Film] (en).
  24. ↑ Hayes, Dade (December 9, 2021). [TBA NBCUniversal's New Theatrical Window Scheme To Bring Films To Peacock After As Few As 45 Days Of Release]. Deadline Hollywood.
  25. ↑ Moon, Mariella (July 14, 2021). [TBA Netflix extends exclusive rights to Universal's animated films in the US] (en).
  26. ↑ Fuster, Jeremy (2024-03-09). [TBA 'Kung Fu Panda 4' Keeps Box Office Recovery Going] (en-US).
  27. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named opening
  28. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named AllWayToKungFuPanda6?
  29. ↑ Howat, Daniel (December 13, 2023). [TBA Trailer – "Kung Fu Panda 4" And Interview With Director Mike Mitchell & Producer Rebecca Huntley] (en).

External links[]

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  • TBA

Template:Kung Fu Panda

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Traditionally-animated films The Prince of Egypt (1998) • The Road to El Dorado (2000) • Joseph: King of Dreams (2000 direct-to-video) • Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) • Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
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DreamWorks Animation How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) • Abominable (2019) • Trolls World Tour (2020) • The Croods: A New Age (2020) • Spirit Untamed (2021) • The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021) • The Bad Guys (2022) • Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) • Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023) • Trolls Band Together (2023) • Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) • The Wild Robot (2024) • Dog Man (2025)
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