Kung Fu Panda 3 is still a go!

Though we might not have heard any rumors on the upcoming sequel lately from DreamWorks Animation, the film has recently made a move that both confirms it's still on track for release in 2016 and will be made available to a larger international audience.

In a report by The Hollywood Reporter, DreamWorks Animation has received co-production status in China for the film. It was revealed recently that the studio was in turmoil due to losing a significant amount of money over the years for the films. Due to this, they have undergone a major reconstruction that resulted to layoffs and a smaller release date. But this didn't hamper the production of Kung Fu Panda 3 and this new move is a major one for both DreamWorks and China.

This initiative gives the film a much better chance of receiving mainstream release in China and a larger share of the revenue and immunity from any blackout periods.

The big news came in when the studio pushed the release date of Kung Fu Panda 3 from 2015 to March 28, 2016 to avoid competition with the much awaited Star Wars 7. Chris Aronson, Fox President of Domestic Distribution, released a statement to Deadline last month, reiterating how important the Kung Fu Panda property is to DreamWorks.

The original cast of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu and other members will all be back for the sequel. According to the film's executive producer Guillermo del Toro, the villain will be "possibly the most formidable villain in the series." The cast features the likes of Bryan Cranston, Rebel Wilson and Mads Mikkelsen, and it's rumored that the Cranston will take over the villainous role.