"Kung Fu Panda 3," the latest installment in the series from DreamWorks animation, has seen the first major United states-China co-production, and was tailored in a manner that will please the rapidly growing Chinese market.
According to BBC News, it is not only because the movie features Kung Fu fighting panda who inhabits China, but also because Hollywood executives are keeping in mind and coming up with ways to please the Chinese movie market, which is believed to be the world's fastest growing movie bazaar.
It appears that DreamWorks Animation, together with Oriental DreamWorks, made two movie versions - one in English and another in Mandarin.
As an alternative to the usual dubbing into a foreign language, the company meticulously reanimated a Mandarin version so that the animated characters matched the words they spoke in both languages. This move made by DreamWorks Animation to "kung Fu Panda 3" became the first movie to open in two languages.
As per the latest box office results, the effort has paid off, as "Kung Fu Panda 3" took $41million and $58million in the U.S. and China box offices, respectively. In China, this is the highest opening ever for an animated movie in a weekend. According to Rentrak, a media research firm, "Kung fu Panda 3" exceeded both domestic and international box office last weekend, reeling a total of $117 million across the globe, Box Office Mojo reported.
Apparently, DreamWorks and Fox took a risk on the movie's release date, but contrary to their expectations, there was even a bigger reward during the Chinese New Year season. Although the domestic performance fell short of what the other past "Kung Fu Panda" films amassed, "Kung Fu Panda 3" did well for a late-January opening.
The movie features all-star casts in two languages, including the voices of Angelina Jolie and Jack Black in the U.S. and those of Bai Baihe and Jackie Chan in China.
DreamWorks hopes that the dual-language release may trigger more views. Furthermore, this tactic is likely to get emulated by other Hollywood executives who are on the move to seize opportunity of China's growing movie market. In fact, Hollywood analysts suggests that by 2030, China's film market will be double in size compared to the U.S.
Watch a Trailer of "Kung fu Panda 3" below;
