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Thread: Kung Fu Panda 3

  1. #16
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    Slightly OT

    Proving once again that there's much more to Kung Fu flix than most people think....

    China is more ‘Kung Fu Panda’ than ‘Crouching Tiger’: diplomat
    Published: Nov 14, 2014 8:21 a.m. ET


    DFree / Shutterstock.com
    Jack Black arrives at the "Kung Fu Panda 2" premiere in Los Angeles in 2011.

    By Laura He Asia markets reporter

    HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — China hopes to show the world that it is a peace-loving “Kung Fu panda” when it comes to international relations.

    Beijing’s envoy to the U.K., Liu Xiaoming, said recently that his country is a “Kung Fu Panda fighting for justice,” referring to the lovable ursine warrior in the DreamWorks Animation DWA, -14.95% cartoon franchise, according to a report Thursday in the official newspaper People’s Daily.

    China is “a participant, a constructor and maintainer of the current international system,” not “a troublemaker or wrecker,” Liu reportedly said.

    The Chinese ambassador to London went on to describe the People’s Republic as “a peaceful, likeable, and civilized lion,” rather than “an elephant in a china shop” or a “crouching tiger and hidden dragon” awaiting its “chance to seek revenge” — apparently referencing the Oscar-winning martial-arts film of the same name, which is set to have a Netflix-produced NFLX, -1.08% sequel made.

    Liu made the remarks while taking questions fromRoyal College of Defense Studies students and a group of senior U.K. military officers, the paper reported.

    In an apparent dig at the U.S. during those remarks, Liu reportedly promised China wouldn’t pursue an Asian version of the Monroe Doctrine, the 19th-century U.S. policy of opposing European interference in the Americas.
    Gene Ching
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  2. #17
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    Penguins bomb

    Like we S.F. Giants fans used to say "it's up to the Panda now".
    DreamWorks Relying On Kung Fu Panda 3 To Turn Around Business
    Posted by: Mehdi Khomein Abadi Posted date: December 05, 2014 In: World

    DreamWorks, the animation movie studio, are looking ahead to Kung Fu Panda 3 to help pull them out of a financial rut, which was compounded by a terrible opening weekend for “Penguins of Madagascar.”

    The $36 million that was brought in by the Madagascar spin off was well below projections, prompting a drop in share price by 8 percent at the beginning of the week. Altogether this year the share price has plummeted 38 percent, as the studio fails to find the next Shrek.

    Unfortunately it’s still a long way off until Kung Fu Panda 3 hits theatres, on December 23rd, 2015, just over a year’s time.

    The first film was the studio’s highest-grossing non-Shrek release, earning a worldwide total of $631,744,560 at the box office. Kung Fu Panda 2 surpassed this, earning $665,692,281 at the box office, and both films were critically acclaimed.

    DreamWorks are hoping that the third film will do just as well and help alleviate investors concerns.

    One market they’re breaking in to is China, which has a massive upside due to its enormous population size. However catering to the Chinese public is not easy, especially with low living standards and rampant piracy. Furthermore there is certain red tape that could prove problematic.

    It has been reported that Kung Fu Panda 3’s plot and content may have been influenced by the stringent Chinese censors, as DreamWorks partnered with Chinese firms to make the film. These firms are going under the banner Oriental DreamWorks, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any control over the finished product. In fact the whole point of teaming up was to allow the film to meet Chinese cinema standards, and therefore gain unprecedented exposure in the country and more box office revenue.


    Critics however have suggested that this could backfire and alienate Western audiences if the film loses some of its charm through censorship.

    Kung Fu Panda 3 will see most of the core cast reprise their voice roles, including Jack Black as Po, Angelina Jolie as Tigress, Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, Lucy Liu as Viper, Seth Rogen as Mantis, Jackie Chan as Monkey, and David Cross as Crane.
    Gene Ching
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  3. #18
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    The Force awakens....

    ...and jedi-pushes Po back three months.
    'Kung Fu Panda 3' Moves Out of 2015 to Avoid 'Star Wars'


    by Pamela McClintock
    12/11/2014 12:52pm PDT

    Making further changes to their upcoming slate, DreamWorks Animation and partner 20th Century Fox are pushing back Kung Fu Panda 3 from Dec. 23, 2015, to March 18, 2016.

    Fox says it didn'twant the threequel to get caught in the wake of J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which opens in theaters six days earlier, on Dec. 18. The much-anticipated Star Wars, from Lucasfilms and Disney, is sure to appeal heavily to families over the year-end holidays.

    "This is part of our constantly reevaluating the competitive landscape, as we do with all of our films," said Fox domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson.

    Yet the switch likely leaves Jeffrey Katzenberg's company with only one theatrical release in 2015 after Home (March 27). DWA is planning to take animated tentpole B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherwordly Operations off the summer 2015 calendar, according to sources, although that film has yet to be officially moved.

    Another DWA film, Boss Baby, was already slotted to open on March 18, 2016. The decision to put Kung Fu Panda 3 there means Boss Baby will be moved as well, although a new release date hasn't been announced yet.

    The shuffling comes as DWA ponders its fate after two unsuccessful attempts to sell. Last week, merger talks fell through with Hasbro, while talks collapsed in September with Japanese giant Softbank.

    Dec. 11, 1:15 a.m. Updated with quote from Fox.
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  4. #19
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    Interesting take on Po bowing to the Force

    2/12/2014 @ 10:00AM 5,614 views
    Why 'Kung Fu Panda 3' Could Have Survived 'Star Wars'

    I completely understand why DreamWorks Animation DWA +1.01% moved Kung Fu Panda 3 from December 23, 2015 to March 18, 2016. The release date change felt frankly inevitable ever since Walt Disney DIS +0.93% moved Star Wars: The Force Awakens from May 2015 to December 18th, 2015. The J.J. Abrams-directed Star Wars picture is going to be a box office monster. I would never tell a studio that they should willingly put themselves in the oncoming path of a hurtling train. And DreamWorks Animation hasn’t been on the sturdiest ground of late, dealing with two proposed mergers that fell through and the disappointing box office for The Penguins of Madagascar ($51m domestic thus far, but a not-terrible $152m worldwide), which was supposed to be the safe bet to offset potentially riskier original fare like Home or B.O.O. Kung Fu Panda 3 is one of DWA’s most important franchises, and I could certainly understand them not wanting to risk box office annihilation at the hands of the Jedi. But history has shown that while Kung Fu Panda 3 may-well have been slaughtered over the Christmas holiday, it just-as-easily may-well have thrived in the shadow of the Force.



    Actually, DreamWorks Animation should know this as well as anyone. Back in May of 2004, Shrek 2 debuted with a $128 million five-day weekend and then followed that up with a then-record second weekend gross of $72m over Memorial Day. But not to be outdone, 20th Century Fox dropped The Day After Tomorrow over Memorial Day and the Roland Emmerich disaster picture earned a massive $86m over its Fri-Mon debut, and its $68m Fri-Sun frame is still the largest weekend gross ever to not top the box office in a given frame. Shrek 2 went on to earn $441m domestic, but The Day After Tomorrow earned a still-strong $188m domestic (and $544m worldwide) in its shadow. And just last Thanksgiving, Walt Disney opened Frozen against the second weekend of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Hunger Games 2 made $109m over the holiday frame, while Frozen had to settle for a mere $93m holiday debut. Both films eventually earned $400m+ domestic.

    Five years ago, James Cameron released a small-scale art house drama about the abuse of indigenous people for the exploitation of their natural resources. The 20th Century Fox film kinda caught on as a cult favorite of sorts, but that didn’t stop Warner Bros.’ Sherlock Holmes from racking up a $62m Christmas weekend debut frame which eventually led to a $209m domestic and $524m worldwide total. Also opening that Christmas was Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakel (which was released by Fox as a safety net of sorts in case Avatar tanked). That would-be Oscar bait drama opened with a $48m debut weekend, which led to a $219m domestic and $449m worldwide total. Those two films opening in the shadow of James Cameron’s 3D spectacular stand as the second and fourth-biggest domestic grossers to never top the weekend box office.

    Speaking of James Cameron, Titanic opened head-to-head with Tomorrow Never Dies. So what happened to the James Bond adventure that opened against Titanic? It flopped and effectively ended the 007 franchise. It opened with $25 million (compared to Titanic‘s $28m debut and on par with the $26m debut of GoldenEye) and went on to earn $125m domestic, which was $20m more than GoldenEye and a 5x weekend-to-domestic final multiplier, still a record multiplier for any remotely modern James Bond picture. There are also cases where one big movie did real damage to the competition. The Avengers drowned out the competition for the first couple weeks of its run, while The Dark Knight was popular enough after its opening weekend to put a real hurt on The X-Files: I Want to Believe and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor during its few weeks of release (and once again let us light a Kaddish candle for Hellboy II). But, without discounting the oxygen-sucking potential of Star Wars 7, there is room in the marketplace, especially the last couple weeks of the year, for more than one major film.

    People of all ages are going to want to go to the movies over the holiday season, and not everyone is going to want to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens for a first, second, or third time. We will see if Paramount (Viacom Inc.) also chooses to move Mission: Impossible V from its December 25th date to elsewhere on the calendar, but I hope they don’t. First of all, I want more to see over December 2015 than just Star Wars and limited-release Oscar debuts. Secondly, the notion that one film is so all-powerful that it can destroy everything in its path, even other so-called big movies, isn’t always supported by history and can backfire. Keeping the field clear for the so-called 800lb gorilla can be a problem if the would-be titan fails to deliver.

    If for whatever reason Star Wars: The Force Awakens under-performs (which I suppose means it plays more like Attack of the Clones as opposed to The Phantom Menace), and it’s the only thing playing over the holiday of box office note, well that’s partially how we end up with “Slump!” talk in terms of overall cumulative box office. The studios stayed well out of the way of Transformers: Age of Extinction this year, a strategy that backfired when the film didn’t quite play as well as its predecessors and there was nothing else of its ilk to pick up the slack in the weeks before and after its domestic release.

    I’m not presuming that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will under-perform (whatever that might be for such a title) or that DreamWorks was wrong to move Kung Fu Panda 3 (although I question moving to the weekend before Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice which feels like an “out of the frying pan and into the fire” situation). DreamWorks was in a tricky position and I’m not sure there was a “right” call to be made. But the notion that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will suck all of the box office oxygen from the room over the last two weeks of the year is one not necessarily supported by history. Kung Fu Panda 3 did’t have to top the box office over its opening weekend or even end up on par with Star Wars 7 in terms of domestic and global box office. It just had to perform in line with reasonable expectations for the animated action comedy sequel.

    Keeping Kung Fu Panda 3 in the same post-Star Wars release date was indeed an awful risk, but it could-well have worked. In all honesty, I mostly disapprove of this date change is because I was more excited for Kung Fu Panda 3 than for Star Wars VII. That’s not a knock on Star Wars, I just really loved Kung Fu Panda 2 (it was my favorite film of 2011) and the thought of waiting an additional three months to see what Jennifer Yuh Nelson and company have whipped up pains me. So now I guess I can proclaim that I’m more excited for Kung Fu Panda 3 than Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Although I’m hoping all of the above will be prime examples of cinematic awesomeness.
    "I would never tell a studio"...yeah, the only entity with the power to do that is North Korea now.
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  5. #20
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    China co-produced

    I get the feeling that DreamWorks is putting everything into the success of KP3 as their recent films have been failing.

    'Kung Fu Panda 3' Gets Co-Production Status in China


    DreamWorks

    by Clifford Coonan
    1/23/2015 6:59am PST

    DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 3 has filed for, and received, much-sought-after co-production status in China, which guarantees greater access and a larger revenue share in the world's second biggest film market.

    The news comes on a difficult day for DreamWorks Animation's stock, which was falling after the company announced layoffs and a smaller release slate late Thursday.

    According to the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) website, Dreamworks Animation, its Chinese unit Oriental Dreamworks and their Chinese partners, which include China Media Capital, Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance, filed and received co-production status for the threequel on Jan. 15.

    Overseas filmmakers want China co-production status because films granted the status are treated as domestic films and do not fall under China’s notorious import quota, and films granted co-production status usually involve local investment in exchange for local distribution rights.

    They also stand a much stronger chance of getting a mainland Chinese release, have immunity from blackout periods and will receive a larger (43 percent) share of revenue.

    This is becoming increasingly important, after China's box office surged 36 percent to $4.76 billion last year.

    Some movies, such as 2013's biggest selling overseas title Iron Man 3 lobbied hard for co-production status but did not get it, and the issue often has proven divisive as both Hollywood and China try to co-operate more.

    Late last year, DreamWorks Animation and partner 20th Century Fox said they were pushing back Kung Fu Panda 3 from Dec. 23, 2015 to March 18, 2016 so as to avoid being overwhelmed by J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which opens in theaters six days earlier, on Dec. 18.

    The Chinese release date has yet to be decided.
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  6. #21
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    Co-director added

    ‘Kung Fu Panda 3′ Gets Co-Director As DWA Looks To Shore Up Franchises
    by Dominic Patten
    February 24, 2015 3:00pm



    EXCLUSIVE: Jennifer Yuh will not be helming the latest installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise by herself, I’ve learned. DreamWorks Animation has brought in Alessandro Carloni to co-direct Kung Fu Panda 3 with Yuh, the first woman to direct an animated feature solo at a Hollywood studio when she helmed 2011’s Kung Fu Panda 2. Sources tell me that Yuh requested Carloni join her as a director on the pic and DWA execs signed off quickly.



    In the case of adding Carloni to the film, the studio wanted Panda 3 to finish in a timely manner. DWA agreed with Yuh that strengthening the director’s bench on the film would ensure it was locked in time for a strong promotional campaign to be rolled out. With some misses and below expectation results in recent years, the company has said it wants to bring out one franchise movie annually going forward to play to its strengths. A strategy that a strong Kung Fu Panda 3 is very much a part of. Besides directing KFP2, the Oscar-nominated Yuh was also head of story and director of a sequence in the first film in the franchise.



    A DWA veteran himself, Carloni served as an animation supervisor on 2008’s Kung Fu Panda, a story artist on the first sequel and was head of story on last year’s How To Train Your Dragon 2, the most successful animated film of the year at the box office. Carloni is also set as the director for Me & My Shadow, which was supposed to come out on March 14 last year but was moved back into development in February 2013.

    This is the second big change for Panda 3 in just over two months. The Jeffrey Katzenberg -run studio said in December it was pushing the release of Kung Fu Panda 3 from December 23, 2015, to March 18, 2016, a move to stay clear of Disney’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens which will be released just five days earlier.

    This KFP3 news comes on top of announcements today by DWA of a big Q4 loss and that it will sell its Glendale campus. Last month the studio said that it was cutting 500 jobs as part of a restructuring amid ongoing stock and strategic concerns. Also, the company’s How To Train Your Dragon 2 came up short in taking the Best Animation prize at Sunday’s Oscars. Having seen Frozen snag the award in 2014, Disney won the category for a second year in a row with Big Hero 6.
    I'm glad HTTYD2 didn't win the Oscar. BH6 was better but I was hoping for Song of the Sea or the Tale of Princess Kaguya.
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  7. #22
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    Jan. 29, 2016

    'Kung Fu Panda 3' Release Date Moves Up Two Months


    Courtesy of DreamWorks Animation
    by Rebecca Ford
    4/14/2015 4:45pm PDT

    DreamWorks Animation and partner 20th Century Fox are shifting Kung Fu Panda 3 up from March 18, 2016, to Jan. 29, 2016.

    Jack Black returns to reprise the voice of lovable Panda Po. Other voice actors include Bryan Cranston, Rebel Wilson and Seth Rogen.

    The threequel was originally slated for release on Dec. 23, 2015, but it was moved to March 2016 after the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was set for six days earlier, on Dec. 18.

    The new date sets the 3D family film up against Sony’s YA adaptation The 5th Wave, starring Chloe Grace Moretz, and Disney’s Coast Guard drama The Finest Hours.
    Much less competition than the Force...
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  8. #23
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    Katzenberg on Po

    Jeffrey Katzenberg Pumps Up ‘Panda 3,’ Dismisses Deal Talk


    Jeffrey Katzenberg Dreamworks
    Alvin Toh/Getty Images
    April 19, 2015 | 06:00AM PT
    Patrick Frater
    Asia Bureau Chief

    Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, sang the praises of digital technology and Chinese filmmaking from a platform in the Beijing Film Festival. But he dampened speculation that his company would be taken over by a Chinese firm.

    He said he didn’t think DWA would benefit from being majority Chinese-owned. “We are a minority owner in a joint venture here, and I think that is the most successful structure to do business here in China today. We’re very comfortable with that arrangement,” he told Variety, on the margins of a conference at the Beijing International Film Festival.

    Katzenberg denied that a long-term Chinese owner is necessary to alleviate pressure from Wall Street of the kind that followed DWA’s recent announcement of a cut in film production. Late last year there was stock market speculation that the company might be in talks with Chinese giants Wanda or Alibaba.

    “Our stock is fine, the company has tremendous liquidity. We have a lot of cash on hand. We’ve had a few movies that didn’t work, we have a great success with ‘Home.’ That’s the movie business. You have your ups and downs. We’ve been fortunate we’ve had many more ups than downs.”

    DWA is a co-founder of Shanghai-based animation producer Oriental DreamWorks, and an investor alongside China Media Capital (CMC), Shanghai Media Group (SMG), and Shanghai Alliance Investment Limited (SAIL). Oriental DreamWorks, DWA and China Film Corporation are investors in “Kung Fu Panda 3,” the first of the “Panda” films to be produced in China.

    Representatives from the three companies held a signing ceremony in front of media. But it was not clear that what was being signed had any meaning. The document was described as a co-production agreement, albeit for a film that has already been in production for over a year.

    Earlier in the week, the film’s director Jennifer Yuh Nelson said that production in China enabled a greater level of authenticity. “The weight of accuracy had been difficult for us. Previously we had to do things through research and extrapolate. Now we have Chinese people as creators,” she said. “We have some 200 artists working with us currently. They are not just executing, they are designers.”

    The film is designed to have a high level of success with Chinese audiences. “There will be only two versions that are fully animated, the English and Chinese versions. ‘Kung Fu Panda 3 will be lip-synched in Chinese from the beginning; it will not be released in China as a subtitled English-language movie.”

    Katzenberg said that the film is being made with a new degree of detail made possible by “methodical and predictable” technological progress. He said that it will take over 60 million hours of rendering, a figure that compares with 20 million for the first film and 50 million for the second.

    “The digital revolution is fundamentally changing the way films are made, and animation seems to be leading the way. This is because in order to create our film every single moment on the screen must be computer animated,” said Katzenberg.

    “The first ‘Shrek’ was the most sophisticated computer animated film in history when it came out in 2001. It featured a single dragon, which was one of the most complex digital characters ever created. Fast forward to 2014. ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ included hundreds of dragons each much more complex than that single dragon in ‘Shrek’ 1. These technological advances have been applied to live action filmmaking, allowing live action to increasingly portray anything that can be imagined.”

    “Take the examples of ‘The Taking of Tiger Mountain’ or ‘Gone With the Bullets.’ These outstanding Chinese films also represent great examples of the integration of live action and digital effects,” Katzenberg said.
    For those of you not paying attention:
    The Taking of Tiger Mountain
    Gone With the Bullets
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  9. #24
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    synopsis revealed

    I only cut&pasted the KFP3 reveal. You have to follow the link if you want the rest.

    Synopses Revealed for KUNG FU PANDA 3, JOY, THE MARTIAN, and More
    by Adam Chitwood 4 days ago



    This afternoon, 20th Century Fox previewed its upcoming slate at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. Steve was onhand and will have a full video blog recap of the presentation shortly, but Fox has also unveiled the official synopses for some of its upcoming films, which you can peruse below.

    ....

    KUNG FU PANDA 3

    Release Date: January 29, 2016 in 3D

    Directors: Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni

    Cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong, Randall Duk Kim, Bryan Cranston, Rebel Wilson

    In 2016, one of the most successful animated franchises in the world returns with its biggest comedy adventure yet, KUNG FU PANDA 3. When Po’s long-lost panda father suddenly reappears, the reunited duo travels to a secret panda paradise to meet scores of hilarious new panda characters. But when the supernatural villain Kai begins to sweep across China defeating all the kung fu masters, Po must do the impossible—learn to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas!
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  10. #25
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    More changes for Po

    [UPDATE] Mads Mikkelsen Leaves ‘Kung fu Panda 3′ Voice Cast + More New Details!
    Posted by Max den Hartog 1 day ago



    Kung Fu Panda 3 director Jennifer Yuh attended the Beijing International Film Festival this past week and, in an interview with the Chinese website, i.ifeng, she discussed some new artistic elements and production details about the film. We recently discovered that the film has been rescheduled for a January 2016 release and now we’ve learned some new details including that Mads Mikkelsen has left the project.

    Cast Replacement

    The first bit of information that Yuh revealed in the interview is that Mads Mikkelsen, who was originally set to play the film’s villain, has left the project due to scheduling issues. Who will replace Mikkelsen has not yet been officially announced by DreamWorks, but it pretty much looks like J.K Simmons, who previously unofficially joined the voice cast in an unknown role, is taking over as this film’s bad guy. Then again, he could Simmons could play another character entirely.

    (See official update from DreamWorks regarding this Mikkelsen’s replacement below).

    Oriental DreamWorks

    She continues the interview talking about the collaboration with Oriental DreamWorks, the DreamWorks department in China, to make this movie as appealing as possible for Chinese audiences. Yuh reveals that one of the things that they’re going to do is reanimate all the lip syncing for the Chinese dub of the movie, so the lip syncing matches the Chinese voices. The two versions of the movie are supposed to be as similar as possible, but Yuh did say that they are going to try to rewrite some of the jokes in the Chinese dub for Chinese audiences.



    Yuh also revealed details about the collaboration between the artists at DreamWorks Animation and Oriental DreamWorks, specifically how they incorporated Chinese culture into the film. She talks about how the Western artists thought at some point that they should have cookies in a particular scene in the movie, but the Chinese artists thought it shouldn’t be cookies, but traditional Chinese food instead. They recommended some traditional Chinese food that they could use, so in the movie more Chinese elements will be reflected this way. According to Yuh, these changes will certainly not affect the development of the story, but make the movie more interesting and cultural accurate.

    New Synopsis

    This past week, DreamWorks also revealed a first official synopsis for the movie at CinemaCon. This new synopsis reveals some new details about the story that the previous synopsis didn’t discuss. The only major change in this synopsis is that the film’s villain, who was previously referred to as The Collector, is now simply called Kai. You can read the new synopsis below.

    ”In 2016, one of the most successful animated franchises in the world returns with its biggest comedy adventure yet, KUNG FU PANDA 3. When Po’s long-lost panda father suddenly reappears, the reunited duo travels to a secret panda paradise to meet scores of hilarious new panda characters. But when the supernatural villain Kai begins to sweep across China defeating all the kung fu masters, Po must do the impossible—learn to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas!”

    Kung Fu Panda 3 comes to theaters on January 29, 2016.
    Oriental? srsly? DW went with that titles?
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  11. #26
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    Go Po

    DreamWorks Animation, Chinese partners bet big on 'Kung Fu Panda 3'


    Though the Glendale-based team of DreamWorks Animation remains the driving creative force behind “Kung Fu Panda 3,” more than 200 employees of Oriental DreamWorks -- the China-based entity 45% owned by DreamWorks Animation -- have been assigned to the film in Shanghai. Above, Oriental DreamWorks animation staff at work in Shanghai. (Nick May / For The Times)
    By Julie Makinen and Richard Verrier contact the reporters

    DreamWorks Animation CEO on its 45% stake in Chinese joint venture: 'Not a huge downside, gigantic upside'
    'Kung Fu Panda 3' to break ground with separate versions so characters' speech in sync with English, Mandarin
    200-plus workers in DreamWorks Animation's Chinese joint venture are working on 'Kung Fu Panda 3' in Shanghai

    On the 16th floor of a Shanghai office building, dozens of fresh-faced young animators are studying painting, sculpting and acting.

    They're participating in film-appreciation workshops — Woody Allen's "Match Point" was a recent pick — and learning the latest software tools. Teaching them via video connections were some of the most experienced artists in Los Angeles, veterans who brought to life hits such as "Shrek" and "Madagascar."

    But it won't take years for these newbies, many of them recent art-school grads, to get their big break working on a Hollywood blockbuster. As employees of Oriental DreamWorks, they're already staff artists on "Kung Fu Panda 3," set for release in January.

    The runaway success of the "Kung Fu Panda" franchise inspired both awe and envy for Chinese who wondered how Americans came up with a billion-dollar global phenomenon that combines two quintessential elements of Chinese culture — a bumbling black-and-white bear and martial arts.

    That sense of admiration and frustration helped smooth the way for DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg to create Oriental DreamWorks in 2012, a $330-million joint venture without precedent in the entertainment industry.

    Modeled on agreements that have given American companies like General Motors expanded access to the restrictive Chinese market — in exchange for sharing their technology and know-how — the Shanghai-based entity is 45% owned by DreamWorks Animation.

    Other partners include a government investment fund; private equity firm China Media Capital, which has invested in Imax's China business; and Shanghai Media Group, a multimedia television and radio broadcasting company.

    "Being able to be a bit of a pioneer in that market, I think could be incredibly and uniquely valuable for us," Katzenberg said in an interview. "If we succeed, it could be a game changer for us."

    Hollywood studios have been scrambling to expand their business in China to capitalize on a booming box office, which is expected to overtake U.S. box-office receipts by 2018. DreamWorks is in an enviable position: The $96.3-million haul for the second installment of "Kung Fu Panda" in 2011 still stands as the highest gross ever for an animated film in China.

    It also reinforced Katzenberg's belief that the Middle Kingdom could be a mega-market for his Glendale studio.

    "I would say saddle up, this is where it's headed," Katzenberg said.
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
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  12. #27
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    continued from previous post



    DreamWorks sorely needs an unbridled hit to bolster its bottom line. The company this year shed about 20% of its workforce, closed its studio in Northern California, and sold (and leased back) its Tuscan-style corporate headquarters lined with olive trees and koi-filled pond. The layoffs and restructuring charges forced DreamWorks to take a loss of $54.8 million in the first quarter ended March 31.

    Following a string of box-office misfires, Katzenberg has installed a new management team, scaled back the number of movies the studio produces, and vowed to focus on reviving the studio's core feature animation business that once produced hits including the "Shrek" and "Madagascar" films.

    The creation of Oriental DreamWorks has already resulted in preferential treatment for "Kung Fu Panda 3" in China. The movie's recent designation as co-production will allow the company to receive a larger share of revenue than foreign studios typically receive when their films are allowed into China under its quota system.

    And the movie has secured a choice release date over the Chinese New Year holiday, a period typically reserved for domestic productions.

    Third installments in even the most successful franchises are far from sure bets, but the studio is making every effort to boost the film's odds of being a hit with Chinese audiences.

    The movie is breaking new ground by having two versions, in which characters are animated so that their speech is in sync with both English and Mandarin. To create the Mandarin-language version will take about 25% more time and effort, adding to the budget of the film that's estimated near $140 million.

    "The first few projects that we do are going to take longer and they're going to be potentially more expensive than what we would normally be planning to do," said Prashant Buyyala, head of Oriental DreamWorks' animation studio. "But that's all part of the process of building a world-class animation studio."

    Though the Glendale-based team led by director Jennifer Yuh Nelson remains the driving creative force behind "Kung Fu Panda 3," more than 200 Oriental DreamWorks employees have been assigned to the film in Shanghai. They have been providing feedback on the authenticity of certain Chinese elements, working on details like the animation of snow, and helping craft the second version of the film that will be precisely coordinated to a Mandarin-language script (and be seen only in mainland China).

    Nelson says the involvement of Chinese artists has improved the authenticity of the film. For instance, a brainstorming session with both Chinese and American staff led to some cultural discoveries.

    "We were trying to come up with fun things the characters do — what they eat, how they play," she said. "As Western story artists, one of the things we put in was cookies. And the Chinese story artists basically said, 'Ummmm. You can't put in cookies, you have to put in traditional food.'"

    That led to changing the script to include food and games more traditional for the Chinese characters.

    Teng Huatao, the director for the Mandarin-language version of the film who had no prior experience directing an animated film, spent two months in Glendale last year discussing story and visual elements. He also had a chance to meet with some of the English-language cast, including Jack Black, who voices Po, the panda.

    Teng also chimed in on some culturally significant scenes.

    "Some stuff they wanted to put in looked Korean or even Japanese — clothing, hairstyles, even fans were wrong," he said. Alluding to historical animosities between China and Japan, he noted: "That can be very dangerous in China."

    Chief Executive James Fong said Oriental DreamWorks is already in preproduction on its next film project, an animated movie code-named "ODW1." Executives are also deliberating over what to select for a second project, another animated film, but Fong said both should be in production simultaneously by next year.

    The two movies, he said, would follow the "Kung Fu Panda 3" model — with versions in English and Mandarin — and are envisioned as co-productions with the Glendale campus. The content would be fully owned by Oriental DreamWorks.

    There have been some growing pains.

    Fong, a former executive at Amazon, joined the studio six months ago to become the company's second CEO in three years. He replaced former Disney executive Guenther Hake — a veteran of Disney's consumer products division in China, who left after just a year on the job. The Shanghai studio also lost its head of creative development after only about a year.

    "Joint ventures are tough.… It's like getting married," Fong said. "Instead of two people, you have two corporations getting married; we're the love child."

    The company has quietly dropped a film called "Tibet Code," which Katzenberg unveiled at a Beijing news conference in April 2013 alongside Han Sanping, then-chairman of the powerful state-run distributor China Film Group.

    The adventure story, based on a series of Chinese novels set in 9th century Tibet, has "all the makings of a world-class, quality, blockbuster franchise," Katzenberg told reporters then. He said the company could not come to terms with the producer who owned the rights to the book.

    The $330 million that DreamWorks and its Chinese investment partners invested in Oriental DreamWorks includes money to build and staff the Shanghai studio.

    Katzenberg declined to say how much money DreamWorks contributed to the deal, or how DreamWorks and its Chinese partners will divvy up revenue and profit.

    But he said DreamWorks' 45% ownership stake in the joint venture limits its financial exposure.

    "If it fails it will be a loss of our time and effort as opposed to damaging the underpinnings of the company," he said. "Not a huge downside, gigantic upside."

    Also boding well for the partnership, Katzenberg said, is a strong partnership with media mogul Li Ruigang, chairman of China Media Capital.

    "I feel like he has as much skin in this game and is determined that we win and succeed," Katzenberg said. "I just find him an excellent partner, even when we disagree."

    How DreamWorks fares in China will be important to its future, analysts say.

    "If China is going to surpass the U.S. box office in the next four or five years, having a strong foothold there is key," said Eric Wold, a media analyst with B. Riley & Co. "It could not only help turn [DreamWorks] around, it could be a major leg of the company."

    Makinen reported from Shanghai and Verrier from Los Angeles.

    Tommy Yang in The Times' Beijing bureau contributed to this report.
    It's amazing to think about the impact this film franchise has now.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  13. #28
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    First look

    Exclusive first look of 'Kung Fu Panda 3'


    Kung Fu Panda Po (center) finds out he's not the only panda alive in 'Kung Fu Panda 3.' In fact, it's Panda-palooza as he hangs out in the cool springs. "There's intense rejoicing, I'm reunited with my people," says Jack Black, who voices Po. DreamWorks Animation


    Po meets his long-lost panda father Li (voice of Bryan Cranston, right) in 'Kung Fu Panda 3.' Says Jack Black, "Li is the master of chilling, of having fun." DreamWorks Animation


    Mei Mei, voiced by Rebel Wilson, makes a powerful appearance in 'Kung Fu Panda 3.' Says Black, "She's super into ribbon dancing and a funny, creative panda." DreamWorks Animation
    I thought Rebel was a nunchuk kinda gal...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  14. #29
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    Chinesse trealier leaked.


    Most of these have been pulled up by Dreamworks already but this one is still live as I post it now. I suspect it'll be pulled up soon. Word is the official U.S. trailer will release this Friday anyway.
    Gene Ching
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  15. #30
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    Rebel's numchuks

    So why did Rebel Wilson whip around nunchucks during her first 'Kung Fu Panda 3' meeting?
    By Bryan Alexander June 11, 2015 4:38 pm


    Everything is a lethal weapon (Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)

    How excited was Rebel Wilson to take on a role in Kung Fu Panda 3? For her first meeting with directors Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni, Wilson whipped out a set of martial art nunchucks to show off her skills.

    The directors were floored. Almost literally, too, in terms of getting out of the way.

    Says Nelson:

    “She was almost treating it like an audition, even though she HAD the role. She was like, ‘I want you to know that I can do nunchucks.’ She pulled them out of her Louis Vuitton bag and was whipping them around my office. They were pink-padded nunchucks. Her hair was blowing. It was one of those weird moments that was just beautiful. It was like, ‘How did this ever come to pass?’ “

    Keep in mind, Wilson’s role is for an animated movie. So her skills would never get onscreen.

    But her character, which USA TODAY revealed yesterday, will use nunchucks in the film due out in January. So it helps to see Wilson can actually handle them.


    The first look of Rebel Wilson’s Mei Mei (DreamWorks Animation).

    Wilson has shown this skill off before. She showed British talk show host Graham Norton just how effective she can be.



    Nelson gave her endorsement as well: “Rebel is trained. She is not an amateur.”

    Carloni noted that sometimes this training has a cost.

    “(Rebel) does have stories of conking herself in the head a few times… But I’m planning to give her a bedazzled, beautiful shiny set of nunchucks to have on the (Kung Fu Panda 3 premiere) red carpet.”

    Another note about Wilson’s prep: Her character Mei Mei has a big crush on Jack Black’s Po. So Wilson wrote a long love poem from Mei Mei to Po and read that at the first meeting as well.

    She’s a comedy ninja all around. See, here she is on Pitch Perfect 2




    By Bryan Alexander June 11, 2015 4:38 pm
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    Everything is a lethal weapon (Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)

    Everything is a lethal weapon (Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)

    How excited was Rebel Wilson to take on a role in Kung Fu Panda 3? For her first meeting with directors Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni, Wilson whipped out a set of martial art nunchucks to show off her skills.

    The directors were floored. Almost literally, too, in terms of getting out of the way.

    Says Nelson:

    “She was almost treating it like an audition, even though she HAD the role. She was like, ‘I want you to know that I can do nunchucks.’ She pulled them out of her Louis Vuitton bag and was whipping them around my office. They were pink-padded nunchucks. Her hair was blowing. It was one of those weird moments that was just beautiful. It was like, ‘How did this ever come to pass?’ “

    Keep in mind, Wilson’s role is for an animated movie. So her skills would never get onscreen.

    But her character, which USA TODAY revealed yesterday, will use nunchucks in the film due out in January. So it helps to see Wilson can actually handle them.
    The first look of Rebel Wilson's Mei Mei (DreamWorks Animation).

    The first look of Rebel Wilson’s Mei Mei (DreamWorks Animation).

    Wilson has shown this skill off before. She showed British talk show host Graham Norton just how effective she can be.

    Nelson gave her endorsement as well: “Rebel is trained. She is not an amateur.”

    Carloni noted that sometimes this training has a cost.

    “(Rebel) does have stories of conking herself in the head a few times… But I’m planning to give her a bedazzled, beautiful shiny set of nunchucks to have on the (Kung Fu Panda 3 premiere) red carpet.”

    Another note about Wilson’s prep: Her character Mei Mei has a big crush on Jack Black’s Po. So Wilson wrote a long love poem from Mei Mei to Po and read that at the first meeting as well.

    She’s a comedy ninja all around. See, here she is on Pitch Perfect 2

    This is from last year's training for Pitch Perfect 2 opening sequence x

    A photo posted by Rebel Wilson (@rebelwilson) on Apr 22, 2015 at 8:12am PDT

    Of course we all knew about Rebel's numbchuk skillz cuz we keep up on that sort of stuff.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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