Kung Fu Panda 3 Gains Three New Cast Members and Slated Release Date
DreamWorks Animation’s adorable podgy panda, Po, is to be accompanied by three new talents for the third instalment in the awesome Kung Fu Panda franchise: Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston (who lent his voice to DreamWorks’ Madagascar 3), Bridesmaids’ Rebel Wilson (who previously appeared in Ice Age: Continental Drift) and Casino Royale’s Mads Mikkelsen, for whom Kung Fu Panda 3 will be an animated feature acting debut. According to DreamWorks’ press release they will join previous members of the star-studded cast including Jack Black, Angelina Jolie and Seth Rogen.
Kung Fu Panda 3 will be the studio’s first co-production with Oriental DreamWorks, based in China, which will surely bring an even more authentic cultural flavour to the beautifully animated franchise (which saw some gorgeous Chinese shadow-puppet sequences in Kung Fu Panda 2). Jennifer Yuh Nelson will also return from Kung Fu Panda 2 (the highest grossing film ever directed by a woman) to direct the new instalment and the visionary Guillermo del Toro will once again become executive producer, which definitely brings high hopes for the future of the twice Oscar-nominated series.
The press release also reveals a little about the plot of Kung Fu Panda 3:
“Continuing on his now legendary adventures of awesomeness, Po must face two hugely epic, but very different threats: one supernatural and the other a little closer to home.“
With the end of Kung Fu Panda 2 teasing a potentially massive revelation regarding Po’s real family, many possibilities lie ahead for DreamWorks’ new production. Perhaps we’ll see a major panda team-up, maybe Po will be forced to choose between his panda family and the Furious Five, or Po could find his panda relations under threat and save the day.
With a release date now slated for December 23rd 2015, it feels like the wait for Po’s next adventure will be far too long. But in the meantime we can catch many other upcoming DreamWorks’ flicks such as Turbo this summer, How to Train Your Dragon 2 next year and The Penguins of Madagascar in the spring of 2015.
News source – DreamWorks Animation