‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ Confirmed: Will The Original Cast Return?

With the box office success of the Kung Fu Panda 3, fans of the franchise are starting to wonder if they will ever get to see a fourth movie. By the looks of it, it seems like a Kung Fu Panda 4 movie is not far from happening. Most of the original cast, including Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan and Seth Rogen, are reportedly set to return.

In an interview with Empire, DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg talked about the possibility of producing Kung Fu Panda 4. While the interview happened even before the third movie was released, Katzenberg held that they are looking forward to making not just one, but three more movies, after Kung Fu Panda 3.

“Kung Fu Panda actually has 6 chapters to it, and we’ve mapped that out over the years.”

Now that the DreamWorks executive himself confirmed that Kung Fu Panda 4 is eventually happening, will the next movie include all the original cast members? According to Bustle, it is highly possible that most, if not all, of the cast will be part of the fourth installment of Kung Fu Panda. It was said that having A-listers, Jack Black (Po), Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Dustin Hoffman (Master Shifu), Lucy Liu (Viper), Jackie Chan (Monkey), Seth Rogen (Mantis), Kate Hudson (Mei Mei), and Bryan Cranston (Li), definitely contributed to the success of the franchise.

The outlet further pointed out that some of the most successful computer-animation franchises such as Toy Story, Shrek, and Ice Age had at least four films. It would actually be even more surprising if we would not see a Kung Fu Panda 4 movie in theaters soon.

While Kung Fu Panda 4 is definitely on its way, directors Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni, along with producer Melissa Cobb, are not in a rush to get in the studio anytime soon. As Kung Fu Panda 3 took roughly four years to make, it is only understandable that they needed some time to step back and relax.

Speaking to Collider, Carloni explained that they did not want viewers to focus too much on what is about to happen next in the Kung Fu Panda franchise. He shared that they just wanted fans to put all their attention on what they have to offer as of the moment.

“With the sequels, we don’t want to try to have them feel open-ended. We want it to feel like a completed journey, and we feel this movie does.”

Producer Melissa Cobb held that seeing Po’s “huge evolution” in Kung Fu Panda 3 is something that would leave fans with a “very satisfying” feeling after the movie.

The Kung Fu Panda producer admitted that there is definite pressure in creating another animated movie that the audience would not mind paying for. Now that they have seen the first and second film, Cobb said that they owe it to the audience to always bring something new to the table.

“We do have a strong loyalty to the audience and wanting to make sure that, when they come back, they’re going to be surprised and excited and see something that they’re glad they spent their money to go see.”

Apart from the fans, Cobb said that they really cared about the characters of the Kung Fu Panda franchise and wanted to give them a really good story.

“We want Po to be in a really good movie. He creates as much pressure as anything. We want to make something that’s worthy of him because we’re particularly fond of him.”

Are you excited for the Kung Fu Panda 4 movie? Let us know in the comments below.

[Image via Dreamworks Animation]