‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ Updates: Big Chance for China, Hollywood Joint Ventures

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. premiered its blockbuster film “Kung Fu Panda” in 2008, raising China’s eyebrows that a Hollywood studio snatched the country’s cultural treasure.

Dreamed up by a U.S. studio, the cartoon Panda ranked among China's top 10 grossing films at the box office, while China's own animation trailed far behind and did not go beyond the country borders, according to the Wall Street Journal.

When Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks' chief, approached Chinese studios for partnership to establish a joint venture to develop new versions of the "Kung Fu Panda" series and other blockbuster animations, China took the opportunity to redeem the national gem and the chance to produce Chinese cartoons that hit the world market.

The third installment of "Kung Fu Panda" will open in China and the U.S. this weekend, making it the first major project from the joint venture, Oriental DreamWorks, which will announce a collection of other Chinese-themed movies for export to universal viewers very soon.

According to China Entertainment News, it is also a litmus test for future China-Hollywood collaborations, which have had difficulties in the recent past. Other joint productions such as the 2010 "Karate Kid" and the 2014 "Man of Taichi" emerged successful in the U.S. but failed in China.

Co-producing "Kung Fu Panda 3" guarantees the film a bigger cut in China's box office than foreign films receive. Most foreign movies do not take home all of the Chinese profits since regulators in China, who tightly limit the market, cap the share at 25 percent.

However, DreamWorks and Oriental DreamWorks are attempting a few new strategies to improve their take-home. The two studios have stocked Chinese grocery store shelves with Kellogg's "Kung Fu Panda" cereal boxes and collaborated with social media app WeChat, making "Panda" graphics available for download.

To attract more moviegoers in China, the studios are also releasing two diverse versions of "Kung Fu Panda" in the Chinese market. While one version will be the English-language meant for the global market, and featuring voiceovers from Hollywood stars like Jack Black and Angelina Jolie, the other version will be in Mandarin for the local audience.