Kung Fu Panda 3 is an upcoming 3D American-Chinese computer-animated action comedy martial arts film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and Oriental DreamWorks, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, with Alessandro Carloni serving as co-director. The film is written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, produced by Melissa Cobb, and executive produced by Guillermo del Toro. It is the sequel to the 2011 film Kung Fu Panda 2 and third installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise. The film stars Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, David Cross, James Hong, Rebel Wilson, Mads Mikkelsen, Bryan Cranston and J.K. Simmons. The film is scheduled to be released on March 18, 2016.
Plot
Po reunites with his biological father and returns to his birthplace, where he does not fit in. There he meets Mei Mei, an overly eager panda, who has been promised in an arranged marriage to Po. But, Po's return is threatened by an evil spirit called The Collector, who steals powers of defeated kung fu masters. In addition, Po must face another danger that is closer to his home.
Cast
- Jack Black as Po
- Angelina Jolie as Tigress
- Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu
- Lucy Liu as Viper
- Seth Rogen as Mantis
- Jackie Chan as Monkey
- David Cross as Crane
- James Hong as Mr. Ping
- Bryan Cranston as Po's biological father
- Rebel Wilson as Mei Mei, an overly eager panda, who has been promised in an arranged marriage to Po
- Mads Mikkelsen as The Collector, an evil spirit, who steals powers of defeated Kung Fu Masters
- J. K. Simmons as TBA
Production
In 2010, DreamWorks Animation's CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that Kung Fu Panda has 6 chapters to it. In July 2012, Kung Fu Panda 3 was officially confirmed by Bill Damaschke, DWA's chief creative officer.
The film will be made as a co-production between DreamWorks Animation and Oriental DreamWorks, a Shanghai based studio, founded in 2012 as a partnership between DreamWorks Animation and Chinese companies. One third of the film will be made in China, and the rest in the United States, at DWA. This is the first time that any major American animated feature film has been co-produced with a Chinese firm. The filmmakers are working closely with Chinese censors to assure the film's acceptability to the state. As a film with a co-production status in China, it will allow the production companies to circumvent the country's strict import quota and take a larger share (43%) of box-office revenue.
The film is directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and produced by Melissa Cobb, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger with Guillermo del Toro as executive producer. Del Toro said in an interview that the antagonist is "the most formidable villain yet". On April 9, 2013, it was announced that Rebel Wilson, Bryan Cranston and Mads Mikkelsen would join the cast of the film. In February 2015, it was reported that Alessandro Carloni had joined Yuh as a co-director. According to the report, Carloni, who was an animation supervisor on the first film and a story artist on the second, joined Yuh following her request to strengthen "the director's bench" to ensure that the film is completed in a timely manner.
Music
On July 25, 2014, it was announced Hans Zimmer would return to score the film.
Release
In September 2012, it was announced Kung Fu Panda 3 would be released on March 18, 2016. On April 9, 2013, it was announced that the film's release date was pushed up from March 18, 2016, to December 23, 2015. In December 2014, the film was moved back to its original release date of March 18, 2016, to avoid competition with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Planned sequels
In 2010, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said that the Kung Fu Panda film series would consist of six chapters.
References
External links
- Kung Fu Panda 3 at the Internet Movie Database
- Kung Fu Panda 3 at Box Office Mojo
- Kung Fu Panda 3 at Rotten Tomatoes
- Kung Fu Panda 3 at Metacritic
