Kung Fu Panda 5 Release Teased By Director

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Griff Griffin | Last updated May 29, 2024 4:30 PM ET

Kung Fu Panda 5 is starting to take shape.

The previous film in the series, Kung Fu Panda 4, released in March 2024, but a sequel already seems to be on the cards.

“The technology does move ahead, but somehow these things always take three years to make,” director Mike Mitchell told ComicBook. “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.”

Universal

Mitchell’s worries ring true given what happened in the last film. Kung Fu Panda 4 positioned a new character in the lead role, with Jack Black’s Po shaping up to train Zhen as a warrior.

“There's so much story to tell and it never feels to me like it would be something intimate.” Mitchell continued. “It's always got big action. 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.”

Mitchell’s words offer a suggestion of a release window. If a sequel to Kung Fu Panda 4 takes three years to make, that means Kung Fu Panda 5 wouldn’t come out until 2027 at the earliest.

It doesn't seem to matter Kung Fu Panda 4 is the lowest rated of the franchise.

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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