Kung Fu Panda 4 Just Stole Dune: Part 2’s Show, Ska-dooshing Impressive Milestone
It’s never too late to be back on top — and Kung Fu Panda proves it 16 years later.
Summary:
- Kung Fu Panda 4 debuted in cinemas two weeks ago, but already surpassed Dune: Part 2 during the first weekend and demonstrated the best result in the franchise’s history.
- The film may owe its huge success also to the star-packed cast of voicing actors including Jack Black, Awkwafina, Ke Huy Quan, and Viola Davis.
- Despite the fact that Kung Fu Panda 4 got mixed reviews, the box office clearly shows that the franchise’s popularity was always there.
The fourth film about a clumsy but charming panda Po’s adventures was released in cinemas only a couple of weeks ago, but has already managed to show some impressive results — and even to dethrone Dune: Part 2 grossing $58 million during the first weekend.
And even though the first reviews were not that promising, Kung Fu Panda 4 demonstrated the best result in the franchise’s history of 16 years.
On top of that, Kung Fu Panda 4 led the whole franchise to a significant milestone reaching $2 billion for all the four parts and thus landing the seventh place on the list of the highest-grossing animated franchises of all time with “neighbors” like Madagascar (2,27$ billion) and The Lion King ( 2,63$ billion).
One of the reasons for that huge success may be the star-studded cast that gave their voices to the cartoon’s characters — alongside truly iconic Jack Black who voiced Po himself there are also Dustin Hoffman, Awkwafina, Ke Huy Quan, Viola Davis and many others.
The plot of the film still follows resilient panda Po that now is set to face a new danger represented by evil sorceress Chameleon. But before he also must go on a search for his successor who’ll transform into the new Dragon Warrior — and for all that he’ll need some help from fox bandit Zhen who becomes Po’s companion.
Though Kung Fu Panda’s box office gross goes against general reviews which so far show that the fourth film is the weakest in the franchise — on Rotten Tomatoes it ended up with only 72%.
Despite such contradictions, box office success is still the primary source to judge — so, probably, it’s not the end of Kung Fu Panda’s era yet.