Kung Fu Panda 4 likely won’t be the last of Po’s adventures.
Speaking with Next Best Picture, Kung Fu Panda 4 director Mike Mitchell and producer Rebecca Huntley were asked if the next film in the franchise, which releases in March 2024, could kick off a new trilogy of Kung Fu Panda movies.
“It’s very possible,” Mitchell said. “Like, I don’t think anyone will ever get tired of seeing Jack Black as this panda. I mean, he just is this panda. He comes up with all of the ‘skadooshes,’ all the ‘sha-sha-booeys’ and stuff. We could watch him forever. That said, we have made the most epic chapter of this franchise here.”
Huntley added, “How do you top the prior three? Our focus was how do you live up to those prior three and then add something new and go beyond.”
“Yeah, our focus was making just the greatest film possible to be seen in the theater,” Mitchell continued. “That was our own mission statement. So we’ll see.”
What is Kung Fu Panda 4 about?
“After three death-defying adventures defeating world-class villains with his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, Po, the Dragon Warrior (Golden Globe nominee Jack Black), is called upon by destiny to … give it a rest already,” the official synopsis reads. “More specifically, he’s tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.”
The synopsis goes on to explain that Po will have to face a dangerous new villain — a powerful, shape-shifting chameleon voiced by Viola Davis who is searching for a tool that can re-summon all the villains that Po faced in the previous Kung Fu Panda movies.
Featuring a voice cast that also includes Awkwafina, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane, and Ke Huy Quan, Kung Fu Panda 4 releases in United States theaters on March 8, 2024.
