Po returns to the big screen with Kung Fu Panda 3 in March 2016, but it looks as though he'll need some extra help in order for that to happen. That assistance is a familiar voice, though, for anyone familiar with the franchise.
Deadline reveals Alessandro Carloni, who worked as an animation supervisor and story artist for the first Kung Fu Panda and worked solely as a story artist on the second, joins the project as co-director with Kung Fu Panda 2 helmer Jennifer Yuh. As DreamWorks wants the movie out in a timely manner for them to start promotional materials — even though they pushed back its release date already — Yuh requested Carloni come on-board for assistance calling the shots, which the studio agreed to.
Carloni already was at work on another animated film, Me and My Shadow, for the studio but production on that film has been in flux for some time and it does not appear on their upcoming slate through 2018. This suggests the project is dead.
Yuh was the first solo female director on an animated film when she was in charge of Kung Fu Panda 2. She was also the sole director of this new sequel before this news came along.
It's not been an easy couple of years for DreamWorks Animation. After they have had lukewarm-to-negative box office responses to their recent onslaught of films, writing down a $57 million write-down for last year, they hope to build on established franchises like the Kung Fu Panda series to keep them in business.
This includes delaying original properties like B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations and Boss Baby, to name a few. At the moment, DreamWorks has Home, How to Train Your Dragon 3, The Croods 2, Captain Underpants and Trolls set to be released with the next couple years.
Featuring the returning voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie and Seth Rogen, as well as Bryan Cranston, Mads Mikkelsen, and Rebel Wilson providing voice work for the first time in the series, Kung Fu Panda 3 chronicles Po's (Black) journey to discover his real father.
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