Hans Zimmer (The Lion King, Gladiator, The Dark Knight, Dune,Inception, Interstellar) and Steve Mazzaro (The Boss Baby, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, The Rhythm Section) have recently recorded their score for the upcoming animated sequel Kung Fu Panda 4. The film is directed by Mike Mitchell (Trolls, Sky High), co-directed by Stephanie Ma Stine (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) and stars Jack Black who returns in the title role, as well as Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, Awkwafina, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane and Ke Huy Quan. The movie follows Po as he embarks on a journey to fulfill his destiny as the next Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, but must first find a worthy successor to carry on the legacy of the Dragon Warrior. Rebecca Huntley (The Bad Guys) is producing the DreamWorks Animation production. Zimmer has previously co-scored the first two Kung Fu Panda movies with John Powell and received solo credit on the third installment. Kung Fu Panda 4 will be released in theaters nationwide on March 8, 2024 by Universal Pictures.
Zimmer’s other upcoming feature projects include Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two (to be released in theaters nationwide on March 1, 2024) and Ron Howard’s Eden, which is also expected to be released next year.
I doubt Zimmer wrote even a single note of music for this. The only reason he’s receiving credit on that one is:
1- for marketing reasons
2- he wrote (some of) the themes for the first movie
Otherwise, this is just Steve Mazzaro – and by that I mean him and a immensely huge army of additional composers, orchestrators, etc.
Does anyone know why John Powell left the franchise after the second movie? He is very much missed IMO.