The black and white panda has become rich! Kung Fu Panda 3 has become the highest grossing animated film in China. The film earned around $149 million (975 million Chinese yuan) by the end of Sunday sweeping past China’s highest grosser Monkey King: Hero is Back. In addition, the film has received permission from Chinese regulators to extend its release run by an additional 30 days. So, the cheerful panda Po is already on his quest to grab more money!
Released on 29 January, 2016, Kung Fu Panda 3, the DreamWorks Animation’s third installment in the franchise, pulled in $41.2 million right during its opening weekend. It retained the top spot at the box office during the second weekend too and has now reached the helm as far as the turnover is concerned in the Chinese market.
Monkey King: Hero is Back, released on 10 July 2015, was known to set the record of highest Chinese animated film as it had grossed 956 million Chinese yuan which comes upto $145 million. However, DreamWorks Animation CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s had recently predicted that Kung Fu Panda 3 would become the biggest animated film ever at the Chinese box office rang true over the weekend.
Produced by DreamWorks Animation and Oriental DreamWorks Unit back in Shanghai, one third of Kung Fu Panda 3 was produced in China. Therefore, the film has a Chinese touch and unique features in terms of background and characteristics throughout the script that sprinkle the culture of China in various portions. Also, it was simultaneously released in China and the United States, and had a Mandarin version alongside the regular English one to cater to the Chinese audience.
As this is the first film from the studio’s Shanghai-based venture, this record has baffled audience all over the globe. Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni and distributed by 20th Century Fox, Kung Fu Panda 3 seems to be a strategic expansion tactic of the animation giant DreamWorks to extend their reach and tap new markets for their content. The first two films in this franchise have also turned out to perform well and collect a considerable amount at the box office to become the highest grosser for an appreciable span of time.
Targeting the Chinese market has been seen as a profitable marketing and distribution tactic in the film industry in the recent past. Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) earned a total of $222.74 million in China and in just 10 days of its release became the highest-grossing film over there. While, Iron Man 3 (2013) collected around $124 million to become the highest-grossing American film in China in 2013.
However, Kung Fu Panda 3 has eluded the boundaries in terms of entertainment and startled the box office at the Chinese market with its huge turnover. The key elements for the success include the creation of specified content for the local audience with a balanced cost of production as the studio is based in the country itself. Moreover, merchandising and marketing will further add on to the revenue of this investment as the product is quite relatable and well catering to the Chinese audience.
Although the Panda adventure will enter the Indian theatres on 1 April 2016, DreamWorks has already managed to cement its franchise and gain huge revenue by creating relevant content for the local as well as global audience but by tapping a new market.