Kung Fu Panda 4

Kung Fu Panda 4
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMike Mitchell
Written by
Produced byRebecca Huntley
Starring
CinematographyJoshua Gunther
Edited byChristopher Knights
Music by
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • March 3, 2024 (2024-03-03) (The Grove)
  • March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08) (United States)
Running time
93 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States[3]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$85 million[4]
Box office$549.2 million[5][6]

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 (in her feature directorial debut), written by Darren Lemke and the writing team of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and produced by Rebecca Huntley. It features Jack Black, Ian McShane, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, and Bryan Cranston 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 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. Lemke's involvement was confirmed in February 2024. 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 mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, and was a box-office success, grossing over $549 million worldwide on an $85 million budget, making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2024.

  1. ^ a b c "Find Your Inner Peace With Po: Dreamworks Animation Unveils "Be Calm and Po" Custom Animation Livestream For "Kung Fu Panda 4"" (Press release). PR Newswire. February 16, 2024. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  2. ^ "Kung Fu Panda 4 (PG)". BBFC. Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  3. ^ "Kung Fu Panda 4". The Numbers. Archived from the original on April 3, 2024. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Variety-Proj was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Kung Fu Panda 4 — Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on April 3, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  6. ^ "Kung Fu Panda 4". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 31, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.