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Jack Black: I’m kind of like a modern-day Jerry Lewis

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Jack Black put on a show for movie exhibitors in Las Vegas on Monday night, rolling around on the stage and pretending to be a martial arts expert to help promote the upcoming 3-D release ‘Kung Fu Panda 2.’

‘This movie kicks so much butt that’s there’s going to be a national butt shortage when this movie is unleashed on theaters,’ he told the audience.

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Um, perhaps. But the comedian probably doesn’t need to drum up that much support for the sequel, due out May 26, anyway: The 2008 2-D original was a blockbuster, grossing more than $630 million worldwide.

Not such a big hit, however? Black’s latest movie, ‘Gulliver’s Travels,’ which cost 20th Century Fox about $112 million to produce but has collected only $42.7 million since its release last December. (Overseas the film has been far more successful, and is inching toward the $200-million mark.)

Asked why he thought the movie resonated abroad, Black shrugged.

‘I’m like Jerry Lewis,’ he joked. ‘My agent called and was like, ‘Hey, it turns out it’s a hit!’ ‘

In any case, he says, he prefers acting in animated movies, in part because a voice actor has more fashion freedom. (His choice of outfit onstage in front of the movie exhibitors Monday -- whom he referred to as a ‘swashbucklin’ crew’ -- included a Hawaiian-print button-up and a T-shirt with a tiger emblazoned underneath.)

‘It’s also so much faster. You can do a ton of scenes in one day, whereas in a live-action movie you’re doing five hours straight of a scene that’s one minute,’ he explained. ‘This is less of a dull process.’

-- Amy Kaufman in Las Vegas

Twitter.com/AmyKinLA

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