Dreamworks Animation got some help from Jack Black, Anna Kendrick, and Justin Timberlake to showcase the upcoming slate, including Trolls unite – a new movie of hers Trolls franchise opened on November 17 – and Kung Fu Panda 4scheduled for release in 2024.
Jack Black – the voice of panda Po – was given a hero’s welcome when he took the stage to introduce Kung Fu Panda 4. He described the story for its spring 2024 release through a comedic and dramatic monologue: “Po faces his biggest challenge yet. Will he survive?”
Black said that Po will become the spiritual leader of his Valley of Peace, but he also needs a succession plan for his role as the chosen Dragon Warrior. In the story, he will also train a new kung fu practitioner and meet a villain called the chameleon who can summon villains from the past. “Po has to beat them all,” the star promised.
Colorful new images of Trolls unite was introduced by Kendrick, who returns as the voice of Poppy, and Timberlake, who returns as Branch. They take the stage to release “Can’t Stop The Feeling”. Trolls World Tour. “That song follows me everywhere,” Timberlake joked.
Kendrick teased that in this “weird and wilder” third film in the franchise, Poppy and Branch are “finally out of the friend zone,” and Poppy learns that Branch was once part of boy band BroZone. “You know a thing or two about that, JT. It feels a little bit in sync with your life,” she joked to applause. Five new songs are introduced in the film.
“Dreamworks believes in making movies for theatres; we value the collective viewing experience,” said DWA president Margie Cohn, adding that the studio is “expanding exciting franchises and also introducing new originals. Everyone loves a franchise, but every generation wants its own original.”
Until then, Cohn introduced a taste of unfinished footage of Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken, ahead of the world premiere in June in Annecy. Cohn described it as an intergenerational story with the potential to become the “girl power movie of the summer.”
Helped by Oscar-nominated director Kirk DeMicco (The Croods), the story follows a shy teenager (Lana Condor), who panics in the clip when she learns from her grandmother (voiced by Jane Fonda) that she comes from a family of legendary seacrackers.
Ruby Gilman will have its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Festival on June 15, ahead of its theatrical release on June 30.
