By Paul Bond
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -
The Beijing Olympics
have thus far been a PR nightmare for China. Leave it to the
country's emblematic panda bear to come to the rescue, with a
welcome assist from DreamWorks Animation.
A bit cuddlier than the real thing, "Kung Fu Panda" is set
for release June 6, two months before audiences might be
inclined to stay home and watch Olympics coverage rather than
venture into a movie theater.
It's also a safe distance between Lucasfilm/Paramount's
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" on May 22
and rival studio Pixar's "WALL-E" on June 27.
The advantageous timing is one reason Goldman Sachs analyst
Ingrid Chung recently raised her six-month target on DWA shares
to $32 from $30. The stock closed Friday at $26.37, off more
than two percent in line with the broader market slump.
Another reason is that Chung and her associates liked the
portions of the movie they have seen so much that she is
proclaiming it the next DWA franchise, predicting a sequel in
2011.
She upped her domestic boxoffice estimate to $220 million,
which would make it the ninth-biggest CGI film in history,
sandwiched between the Pixar duo of "Cars" and "Ratatouille."
After viewing some of "Panda," the analyst said the
character development was good, the scenes were amusing and the
concept will appeal to a broad audience.
Her enthusiasm is shared by others who have seen portions
of the film, like Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield who
last month raised his worldwide box office estimate to $563
million from $534 million.
"The film leverages elements of the 'Star Wars' franchise,"
Greenfield said. "The lead Panda character voiced by Jack Black
is very entertaining."
Chung also is bullish about DWA's "master toy agreement"
with Mattel that allows it to partake in more of the upside
from "Kung Fu Panda" merchandise.
She notes that Mattel is planning a line of both plush toys
and action figures based on the movie. Plus, Activision is
partnering with DWA for a video game to be released the same
day the film hits screens. Management teams at both Activision
and DWA, Chung says, "are very excited about the game."
She also notes that "Panda" is the final release under
DWA's HD DVD agreement and, since Toshiba no longer supports
the format, the studio might have the option to release "Kung
Fu Panda" on Blu-ray just in time for Christmas.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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