Our special correspondent Dong Ming
American "Variety" said on the 5th that " Kung Fu Panda 4", which will be released globally this month, will compete with the popular science fiction epic " Dune 2" and benefit from the recent Hollywood With the lack of "family fun" movies, this new sequel may do well at the box office, but its cost has shrunk significantly compared to the first three films.
"Kung Fu Panda 4" is scheduled to be released in North America on March 8 (it will be released in China on March 22). "Variety" predicts that its local box office will reach 45 million to 50 million US dollars in the first weekend, surpassing 2016's "Kung Fu Panda 3" ” and 2011’s “Kung Fu Panda 2.” The previous two cartoons achieved global box office of US$665 million and US$521 million respectively. They are one of the most popular IPs owned by DreamWorks. Chinese Kung Fu and Oriental elements are very popular among Eastern and Western audiences.
However, although the three "Dragon Hero Po" stories are very popular around the world, the production company DreamWorks has not been operating smoothly in recent years, experiencing difficulties such as being acquired by Universal and layoffs. Today, "Kung Fu Panda 4", which was belatedly released after 8 years, still features the voice of comedy star Jack Black, but the budget cost has been reduced from the previous film's US$150 million to US$85 million, a significant reduction of 43%. Judging from the trailers currently exposed, "Kung Fu Panda 4" retains the iconic characters, but the absence of "The Furious Five" has made many fans regretful. DreamWorks' "downgrade" at the production level will still be noticed by the audience. At the same time, whether this kind of "cost reduction and efficiency improvement" operation can make the "profit rate" more secure is also an economic calculation for Hollywood.
In fact, various uncontrollable situations such as epidemics and strikes in recent years have caused a general surge in the cost of Hollywood movies. The cost of "Mission: Impossible 7" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" has reached 300 million US dollars. The producers want to return profits. This film must face tremendous box office pressure. For example, Warner executives have stated that they will control costs, cut expenses, and make choices about high-investment blockbuster projects; Disney has also stated that it will reduce the number of Marvel projects. The obvious "shoddy production" of "She-Hulk" Nothing more to say. ▲
