Kung Fu Panda has reminded the world why it is one of the most cherished animated franchises. This past March, Dreamworks released a fourth installment into the Kung Fu Panda franchise eight years after the first trilogy concluded. Despite having the widest gap between sequels in franchise history, Kung Fu Panda 4 crushed both critically and financially, boasting an 86 percent audience score en route to over half a billion dollars at the box office. Prior to its release, there were conversations about Kung Fu Panda 4 being the first of a new trilogy, as Dreamworks has ideas for the franchise to go all the way up to a sixth film.
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Kung Fu Panda 5 Release Window Teased
It will be at least a couple of years before fans see Po and The Furious Five again.
When asked by ComicBook’s Liam Crowley if fans would have to wait another eight years between Kung Fu Panda movies, Kung Fu Panda 4 director Mike Mitchell admitted that it will be at least three.
“The technology does move ahead, but somehow these things always take three years to make,” Mitchell said. “I don’t know why that is. I think it’s because it’s actually harder to make a sequel because we have to make it now five times better than the first one.”
And going “five times better” remains a priority, as Mitchell dismissed the idea of ever scaling down the Kung Fu Panda franchise.
“There’s so much story to tell and it never feels to me like it would be something intimate. It’s always got big action,” Mitchell added. “It’s hard for me to imagine it’s just taking place in one room. I mean, we had so many ideas from this film that we just couldn’t fit in.”
Kung Fu Panda 5 has yet to get the green light, but Mitchell’s comments indicate that the soonest it could hypothetically arrive would be 2027. Beyond the technological limitations, Mitchell added that the creative side in the writers’ room takes time to fine tune.
“It’s very difficult to do, especially when you love all the stuff that’s there I think that’s what takes the longest, is all of us passionately arguing from within about what’s the coolest aspect of Kung Fu Panda,” Mitchell continued. “It’s worth it. I think it’s going to be worth the wait.”
Kung Fu Panda 4 is available to own on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD now.
