Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation CEO, announced in 2010 that "Kung Fu Panda actually has 6 chapters to it." Kung Fu Panda 3 was officially confirmed in July 2012 by Bill Damaschke, chief creative officer for DWA.
The film will be made in China as a co-production between DreamWorks Animation and Oriental DreamWorks, a Shanghai based studio, founded in 2012 as a partnership between DreamWorks Animation and Chinese companies. One third of the film will be made in China, and the rest at DWA. This is the first time that any major American ani mated fea ture film has been co-produced with a Chi nese firm. The filmmakers are working closely with Chinese censors to assure the film's acceptability to the state. As a film with a "co-production" status in China, it will allow the production companies to circumvent the country's strict import quota and take higher percentage of box-office revenue.
Kung Fu Panda 3 was initially scheduled to be released on March 18, 2016 however on April 9, 2013, it was announced that the film's release date was pushed up from March 18, 2016, to December 23, 2015. It was also announced that Bryan Cranston, Mads Mikkelsen and Rebel Wilson will join the cast of the film.. The film is directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and produced by Melissa Cobb, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger with Guillermo del Toro as executive producer.[8] Del Toro said in an interview that the antagonist is "the most formidable villain yet".