Kung Fu Panda 4 Director Teases Possible 5th & 6th Installments

The Kung Fu Panda franchise is about to make its long awaited return in March of next year. It will have been eight years since the release of the last film Kung Fu Panda 3 which saw our main hero master the power of “Chi”. Now he must face a new threat while also finding his own successor to be the next Dragon Warrior as he becomes the new “Zen Master”.



For some time, many fans were worried about the future of the franchise as shortly after the third film’s release, DreamWorks was acquired by NBCUniversal. Since then, their output has been rather up and down, with some films doing rather well and others bombing at the box office. After creating new life into the Shrek franchise with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, they aim to do the same for Po the Panda.

Despite the film releasing next spring, some fans are concerned that this will be the finale. It was confirmed by former studio head Jeffery Katzenberg that the series was envisioned to be a six-part saga, but with the lack of any major films, some assume that DreamWorks is letting the series go in favor of other projects.



Now fans have at least some hope as in a recent interview with the film’s director Mike Mitchell and producer Rebecca Huntley via Next Best Picture, they were asked this question by the interviewer:

“Years ago, Kung Fu Panda was envisioned as a six-part series. Is ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ kicking off a new trilogy?“

Mike then responded with: “It’s very possible. 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.“

Rebecca then chimed in and said: “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.“

Mike then finished with: “Yeah, our focus was making just the greatest film possible to be seen in the theater. That was our own mission statement. So we’ll see.“



One of the biggest factors as to whether or not the series sees any more films is the box office reception. If you want to see the series continue, go see it in theaters. See it once or see it ten times and support it in theaters when it releases next March.

Source: Next Best Picture