Disney Plans Live Action 'Mulan' Film
After the apparent success of Disney's live action adaptation of the classic fairy tale "Cinderella," the studio is now working on another live action retelling of one of its recent animated films, "Mulan."
The Hollywood Reporter first reported Disney's plans, saying that the studio already acquired a script that has been written by writing team Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek who were both relatively unknown in the industry. The story of course touches on the legend of Hua Mulan, a Chinese woman warrior who pretended to be a man in order to join the imperial army in place of her ailing father.
With a script in hand, Disney is said to be looking for a director who will helm the project. No news as of yet as to who is being eyed. The film however already has its producers. Chris Bender and J.C. Spinks of Benderspink are producing the film together with Jake Weiner.
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This is not Disney's first attempt to bring to life the story of Mulan in the big live action screen. There was an earlier try with actress Zhang Ziyi five years ago but it never materialized. There is also a non-Hollywood feature film that came out in 2009 called "Mulan: Rise of a Warrior" which was starred in by Chinese actress Zhao Wei.
According to another report in Screen Rant, the movie will likely focus on the story and like the live action "Cinderella," will not be a musical. It all depends on the script and how much of it is reflective of the animated feature or the story in the Chinese history books.
It is no wonder why Disney is pushing projects of retelling or reimagining of any of its creative property. It has proven with "Cinderella," and even with "Maleficent" and "Alice in Wonderland" that remakes can bring in a lot of revenue. Cinderella already earned $336.2 million in just three weeks, while "Alice in Wonderland" earned over $1 billion in 2010 and "Maleficent" at over $700 million in 2014.
The studio has similar projects in the pipeline such as "Beauty and the Beast," an "Alice in Wonderland" sequel, a new version of "The Jungle Book" and a live action adaptation of "Dumbo."
