A young Chinese maiden disguises herself as a male warrior in order to save her father. A live-action feature film based on Disney's 'Mulan.'
- Director: Niki Caro
- Writers: Rick Jaffa (screenplay by), Amanda Silver (screenplay by) | 2 more credits »
- Stars: Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Jet Li
Production
Development: Walt Disney Pictures expressed interest in a live-action adaptation of the 1998 animated film Mulan starring international star Zhang Ziyi, with Chuck Russell chosen as the director. The film was originally planned to start filming in October 2010, but was canceled. On March 30, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Disney had restarted development of the live-action adaptation with Chris Bender and J. C.
Spink producing, while Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek would be writing the screenplay. On October 4, 2016, it was announced that Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver would rewrite the script, combining the Chinese ballad and the 1998 animated film, while Jason Reed would be producing the film along with Chris Bender and Jake Weiner.
Casting: Since several recent Hollywood films were accused of whitewashing, Mulan has been under intense scrutiny since The Hollywood Reporter reported that Disney was making a live-action adaptation of Mulan. An online petition titled "Tell Disney You Don't Want A Whitewashed Mulan!" received more than 100,000 signatures. On October 4, 2016, Disney announced that a global search for a Chinese actress to portray the title role was underway. A team of casting directors visited five continents and saw nearly 1,000 candidates for the role with criteria that required credible martial arts skills, the ability to speak clear English and, lastly, star quality. On November 29, 2017, Chinese-American actress Liu Yifei was cast in the film to portray the titular role of Mulan. Many celebrated this as a win for diversity in Disney films. Further cast announcements for Donnie Yen, Gong Li, Jet Li, and Xana Tang were made in April 2018, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Ron Yuan in May, Yoson An and Chum Ehelepola in June, Jason Scott Lee in July, Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao, Cheng Pei-Pei, Nelson Lee, Jimmy Wong and Doua Moua in August, and Chen Tang in September.
Director: Disney originally sought an Asian director. Disney first considered Ang Lee, Taiwanese film director and two-time Academy Award winner for Best Director. The Hollywood Reporter mentioned that Lee was approached but declined on October 12, 2016. According to the report, published on November 22, 2016, he said that he would like to see an Asian director leading the film, but he himself had to decline because he was still obliged to promote his film Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. Next, Disney met with Jiang Wen for the position; finally on February 14, 2017, Niki Caro was hired as the director of the film, which made Mulan the second Disney film with a female director and a budget above $100 million following A Wrinkle in Time. "Read More"
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