Mike Mitchell To Direct ‘Kung Fu Panda 4,’ Stephanie Ma Stine Will Co-Direct

At Cinemacon on Wednesday, Dreamworks Animation revealed that Mike Mitchell (The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Trolls, Shrek Forever After) will direct and Stephanie Ma Stine (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, story artist on How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World) will co-direct Kung Fu Panda 4.

The new feature, scheduled to hit theaters on March 8, 2024, will be the first theatrical KFP movie in eight years and will, it sounds like, pick up where Netflix’s recent animated series Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight left off.

What we know so far:

• Mitchell is returning to the KFP franchise having produced Kung Fu Panda 3 and worked as a story consultant on the first film. Ma Stine, who directed episodes of Dreamworks’ She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, is making her feature directorial debut.
• Jack Black, who recently returned to voice Po in the Netflix series Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, will be back for the new film. Other casting details haven’t been announced yet, but based on the film’s synopsis – orated by Black from the Cinemacon stage – it sounds like a lot of familiar voices could be back.
• Black explained to the Cinemacon audience that in the new film, Po is preparing to take over as the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace, but that he will need to name a successor for the role of Dragon Knight that he currently occupies. During the film, Po will also begin training a new warrior and go toe-to-toe with a villain called the Chameleon who has the power to summon figures from the past.
• Veteran Dreamworks producer Rebecca Huntley (The Bad Guys, Abominable) will produce. She joined the company in 2009 and managed the animation department on How to Train Your Dragon before becoming a production executive on films including Turbo, The Croods, and Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.
• At Cinemacon, Dreamworks also featured new footage from its upcoming 2023 films Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken and Trolls Band Together.