Kung Fu Panda 4 box office is off to a flying start with $3.8 million in previews and looking at over $50 million this weekend

You can’t keep the Dragon Warrior down; Kung Fu Panda 4 is off to a promising start at the box office as it has grossed $3.8 million in Thursday night previews. Not bad, Po. Not bad at all.

The box office projections for Kung Fu Panda 4 are shaping up to be the second-best opening weekend of the entire franchise with $52 million. That would help it take the number one spot from Dune: Part Two, which is expected to take in $41 million. The Thursday night preview number is also the best opening for a Dreamworks Animation title since How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which opened to a $3 million preview take. Speaking of Dune: Part Two, the acclaimed sequel will finish the week with a domestic take of $111 million, putting it over the first movie’s entire domestic run of $108.8 million.

“After three death-defying adventures defeating world-class villains with his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, Po, the Dragon Warrior (Jack Black), is called upon by destiny to … give it a rest already. More specifically, he’s tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace,” reads the official Kung Fu Panda 4 synopsis. “That poses a couple of obvious problems. First, Po knows as much about spiritual leadership as he does about the paleo diet, and second, he needs to quickly find and train a new Dragon Warrior before he can assume his new lofty position.” The film also features the voices of Awkwafina as Zhen, a quick-witted thief; Viola Davis as Chameleon, a powerful sorceress; Dustin Hoffman as Kung Fu master Shifu; James Hong as Po’s adoptive father, Mr. Ping; Bryan Cranston as Po’s birth father, Li; Ian McShane as Tai Lung, Shifu’s former student and arch-nemesis; and Ke Huy Quan as Han, the leader of the Den of Thieves.

Our own Chris Bumbray recently caught a screening of the movie but doesn’t think that it lives up to the previous installments. That said, the children in the audience absolutely loved it. “The film is all about planting the seeds for a potentially new direction for the franchise, but again, after having seen this with a kiddie audience, I don’t think they want to see Po in the wise mentor role,” Bumbray wrote. “They want him leaping around yelling ‘ska-doosh.’ Kung Fu Panda 4 has enough of that to make it a fun enough romp for kids, but it can’t help but feel like this franchise’s moment has passed, and isn’t really strong enough material to sustain a spin-off.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.