Jack Black Returning For Kung Fu Panda 4
Jack Black is coming back to Kung Fu Panda 4 as Po.
While Jack Black might be getting attention for playing Bowser in the absurdly popular The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the film is far from his first foray into animated films. In fact, he was well known for playing Po, the Panda that learns Kung Fu in Kung Fu Panda, long before anyone thought of bringing Bowser to the big screen. So, longtime fans will be happy to hear that, according to Hollywood Reporter, he’ll be returning to the role in Kung Fu Panda 4.
Jack Black announced his return to the role at CinemaCon, appearing alongside Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake, who were promoting their own upcoming Dreamworks film Trolls Band Together. The School of Rock star described the plot of his upcoming movie, saying that it involves Po searching for a successor to his role of Dragon Warrior. He also faces a villain who can summon villains from his past, forcing him to fight against a gauntlet of all the villains who gave Po a run for his money in the previous movies.
It hardly comes as a surprise that Jack Black is returning to his role since he’s shown remarkable dedication to the Kung Fu Panda franchise. He has not only voiced the leading role in all three previous films but also voiced Po in the TV series Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, the short films Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll, Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters and Kung Fu Panda Po’s Winter Wonderland.
Jack Black’s original 2008 Kung Fu Panda film was a surprisingly big hit for Dreamworks Animation, making $632 million off a $130 million budget. At the time, it was the highest-grossing Dreamworks film outside of the Shrek franchise. Critics also enjoyed the film — it boasts an 87 rating rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Kung Fu Panda’s popularity wasn’t just confined to the United States — it received a notably warm reception from viewers in China. The film, which replaced Jack Black’s voice with Eason Chan’s for the Chinese dub, became the first animated film to earn more than 110 Yuan in the country, with Chinese viewers being impressed by the film’s genuine depiction of Chinese culture. In fact, the film caused a bit of a creative crisis in China, with many filmmakers wondering why China itself was unable to produce a film of similar quality.
Jack Black’s return in Kung Fu Panda 2 continued the original film’s success, earning $665 million at the box office and an 81 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating. The third film has an 86 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though it didn’t fare quite as well at the box office, earning “only” $521 million.
There have so far been three animated TV series in the Kung Fu Panda franchise. The first is the 2011 Nickelodeon series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, which ran for three seasons, and the second is the Amazon Prime series Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny, which ran for two seasons. While Mick Wingert voiced Po in those series (doing a surprisingly good Jack Black impression), Black himself returned for the third series, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, which also aired on Amazon Prime.
