Mulan (2020)

[sanjuro_ronin]

I saw a p0rn version of Mulan not too long ago.
:D

[GeneChing]

As in hentai or live action? What year was that?

[sanjuro_ronin]

As in hentai or live action? What year was that?

Live,,,geez...I don't know the year, LOL !
It was one of those parody p0rn clips.

[GeneChing]

There's a lot of Mulan hentai-like stuff, as with all the Disney princesses. Search that for yourself. :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

Disney Developing Live-Action 'Mulan' (Exclusive) (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-developing-live-action-mulan-784892)

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/675x380/2015/03/mulan_a_l.jpg
Disney's 1998 film 'Mulan'
Photofest

by Rebecca Ford 3/30/2015 12:46pm PDT

On the heels of the magical success of Disney's live-action Cinderella, the studio is eyeing another live-action retelling: Mulan.

Disney bought a script by writing team Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek that centers on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, the female warrior who was the main character in Disney's 1998 animated film.

Chris Bender and J.C. Spink (We're the Millers) are producing the new project vie their banner Benderspink with Jake Weiner.

The 1998 film, directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, followed a young woman who disguises herself as a man so she can take her father's place in the army and go to war. With the help of her trusty dragon sidekick Mushu, she becomes a skilled warrior and, eventually, one of the country's greatest heroines. It earned $304.3 million worldwide, earned Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations and resulted in a 2005 direct-to-DVD sequel, Mulan II.

Disney has been on a roll with its live-action versions of its classic animated films. Cinderella, starring Lily James, has earned $336.2 million worldwide to date since hitting theaters three weeks ago. In 2010, the reimagined Alice in Wonderland grossed a staggering $1.02 billion and when Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie as the iconic villainess, opened in May 2014, it went on to earn a stunning $758.4 million worldwide.

Disney is also making a live-action retelling of Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. Audra McDonald just joined the cast of the project, which will be directed by Bill Condon. It hits theaters on March 17, 2017. And in 2016 Disney will release a new version of The Jungle Book and the sequel to Alice in Wonderland. Finally, a live-action version of Dumbo, which will be helmed by Tim Burton, is also in the works.

Writing team Martin and Hynek met in high school and, among other projects, have written for the Know Theatre of Cincinnati and rewrote a script for Amazon Studios. They're repped by Amy Wagner at the Abrams Artists and Mike De Trana at Anvil Entertainment.

For the record, here's our past Mulan coverage:
I couldn't find a thread on the original Disney animated version but that was 1998. We did run a cover story on Mimi Chan, who was mo-capped for that film, in our June 2000 issue (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=117).
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53202-Mulan)
Legend-of-Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?59298-Legend-of-Mulan)

[GeneChing]

It would be a major gaff for Disney to whitewash this one. I suspect that they won't. Which begs the question - who could play Mulan? Would they go for Brenda Song (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/index.php?p=article&article=669)?


Petition grows over Mulan cast (http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2015-04/15/content_20438835.htm)
Updated: 2015-04-15 11:04
By LIA ZHU in San Francisco(China Daily USA)

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/attachement/jpg/site1/20150415/002564bc6745169819c002.jpg
Mulan, a 1998 Disney animated film that will be made into a live-action movie, is the subject of a petition. Provided to China Daily.

An online petition calling on The Walt Disney Co not to have a white actress play the role of Mulan in a live-action remake of the 1998 animated film Mulan had gathered more than 42,000 signatures by Tuesday afternoon.
After Disney announced it was developing a live-action version of Mulan two weeks ago, Natalie Molnar, an activist in Michigan, launched a petition at Care2.com, a social networking website, demanding the filmmaker cast an Asian actress to play the title character.
Hua Mulan, a legendary female warrior from ancient China, was originally portrayed in a poem, Ballad of Mulan, in which she takes her aged father's place in the army by disguising herself as a man and fights for 12 years before she retires and return home.
In the petition titled "Tell Disney You Don't Want a Whitewashed Mulan", Molnar, a librarian at the Rochester Hills Public Library in Michigan, said, "Whitewashing, the practice of casting white Caucasian actors and actresses in roles originally meant to be characters of color, is all too common in Hollywood."
She used the examples of The Last Airbender, Pan and the upcoming Ghost in the Shell adaptation, which is based on a Japanese cartoon but stars American actress Scarlett Johansson.
"Mulan was based on a Chinese legend. … The character, story, and fans deserve the best retelling of the story Disney can produce," said Molnar. "This disturbing trend of whitewashing in big-budget movies can't get a chance to take root in Mulan as well.
"Even if the story is set in a time or place in which whites should be overwhelmingly in the minority, even if the characters are based on historical characters who we know for a fact weren't white, chances are they'll be played by someone who is - effectively implying to POC audiences that they can't be the heroes even in their own stories," Molnar told China Daily by e-mail.
"In children's entertainment in particular, whitewashing has lasting negative effects. Take it from a children's librarian, kids are much more perceptive than many people give them credit for. Every experience is a learning experience for a child, and every day the way they see the world changes just a little bit. But if they rarely see themselves represented in the stories they love, what kind of a world is that?"
A request for comment made to Disney was not answered by press time.
Michelle Cen, a mother of a 3-year-old in the San Francisco Bay Area, opposed Mulan being played a Caucasian, saying it would disrespect Chinese history.
"The story originates from an ancient Chinese legend," Cen said. Mulan is a Chinese heroine. She cannot be a white girl," she said, adding that she would not take her child to watch the film if it ended up with a white Mulan.
Another mother, Zhang Miao, said she was happy to learn that so many people have given support to the petition. However, she was not optimistic that the petition would have any influence on Disney.
"After all, it's the profit that the filmmaker is concerned about," she said.
A Mulan fan from Ohio, Megan Brandewie, baked the petition and said in her comment, "Mulan was one of my favorite Disney movies growing up, and I want her story recreated in its truest form. There is not enough representation in media for non-whites, and to tell this story with anyone but a Chinese woman cast as the lead is not only a disservice to Disney but a disservice to young Asian girls everywhere.
"The movie is based on a Chinese story and takes place in China," said another fan, Matthew Gnepper from Wisconsin. "Please don't cast it with white actors."
"Casting a white Mulan is no different than casting a white Tiana for the Frog Princess. It takes away more than adds," he said.
liazhu@chinadailyusa.com

[GeneChing]

I luv ScarJo but this just does NOT work for me. Ghost in the Shell (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68356-Ghost-in-the-Shell) isn't enough for her? This has got to be some weird fallout from Lost in Translation, right?


Live Action Mulan Movie Starring Scarlett Johansson Confirmed For 2016 (http://www.theportlygazelle.com/2015/08/30/live-action-mulan-movie-starring-scarlett-johansson-confirmed-for-2016/?fb_ref=727981a3a7df4ab4a980e779a3c9d7bc-Facebook)
POSTED BY: LEWAGASTIR AUGUST 30, 2015

http://www.theportlygazelle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/mullan.jpg

China’s saviour is back – and this time, she’s a little more real

Disney’s animated blockbuster “Mulan” took theatre goers by storm in 1998 with its bold depiction of bravery, strong female characters and…dragons (who could forget that dragon?) Now, almost 18 years later, Disney is announcing a remake of the movie in the live action format. It was at a press conference at Disney’s Studios this morning that the company announced the production of a live action Mulan movie slated for a summer 2016 release. This is what Disney officials had to say:

“We are excited to announce a new Mulan movie for a new generation that will premier in theatres in June 2016. This movie has been in the works for almost 10 years but we’re finally at the point where we feel we can really release our work to the public without feeling like we’re snubbing them of the ultimate experience. The cast and crew are very excited for the new Mulan and hope that it will be well received by the audiences who loved the original film. See you in June!”

Scarlett Johansson will play Mulan in the upcoming movie, a casting choice that may raise some eyebrows as Mulan is supposed to be an ethnically Chinese woman. Disney explained the casting choice:

“We are aware that casting Scarlett may not agree with everyone’s opinion on what Mulan should be, but we find that we’re going to appeal to a much wider audience with Scarlett and create a much more financially viable production than in a scenario where we had hired some Chinese actress.”

Scarlett Johansson herself has commented on the upcoming role:

“I am extremely happy to be a part of such a monumental and historically rich production. In playing Mulan, I’ve really felt like I was there in the China, fighting the huns, I really felt at home and I’m looking forward to sharing the experience on the screen.”

The movie is slated for a release on the 4th of June 2016, but if you can’t wait to buzz about it until then, tweet under #ScarlettAsMulan

Note that this could be a hoax. I have yet to find this official announcement from Disney, just a lot of articles quoting this one from the www.theportlygazelle.com (http://www.theportlygazelle.com/)

[GeneChing]

...but that was an amusing one for sure.

For the record, ScarJo would be awesome in Charlie's Angels.


Doug Belgrad Launches 2.0, Will Co-Fi ‘Bad Boys’ & ‘Zombieland’ Sequels, ‘Charlie’s Angels’ (http://deadline.com/2016/09/doug-belgrad-2-0-entertainment-sony-pictures-bad-boys-3-zombieland-2-charlies-angels-1201814008/)
by Mike Fleming Jr
September 8, 2016 1:47pm

http://i1.wp.com/pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/doug-belgrad.jpg?crop=50px%2C202px%2C513px%2C344px&resize=446%2C299&ssl=1

EXCLUSIVE: Three months after ending a 25-year run as a Sony Pictures film exec — the last three as Motion Picture Group president after 10 as Columbia Pictures president — Doug Belgrad has christened his new production shingle 2.0 Entertainment. He has hired Open Road exec Sophie Cassidy to be SVP Production, joining at the end of September. It will take until year’s end for him to tie down his outside financing and a while longer to assert himself as a buyer. But Belgrad will get his venture going by becoming a minority co-financier on Sony projects Peter Rabbit, Bad Boys 3, Zombieland 2, Mulan, Charlies Angels, and Mallory. The latter is a Doug Liman-directed drama about British mountaineer George Mallory and his attempts to summit Mount Everest. He has also gotten started in television with four active projects including a sitcom with Jake Kasdan.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/sophiecassidy1.jpg?w=151&h=224&crop=1
2.0 Entertainment

Belgrad’s shingle will generate films and TV projects as producer and co-financier, and it will be headquartered on the Sony lot with a first-look feature deal there. He’ll co-finance between 10%-33% of the pre-existing Sony films, but will go 50/50 on packages he brings to the studio. If Sony doesn’t bite, Belgrad can partner with other studios or finance independently and distribute through Sony. The goal is to leverage Belgrad’s skills and relationships to entice talent to play in the mid-size-budget sandbox. Belgrad was certainly part of his share of big films at Sony, but those won’t be the focus of 2.0. He cited projects he helped shepherd, from 21 to The Social Network, American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Zero Dark Thirty, Karate Kid, Equalizer, Hitch and This Is The End as the kind he’d like to focus on.

“These were dramas and comedies for sophisticated audiences that gave us the chance to work with high-quality filmmakers, and they made money,” Belgrad said. “There is great gratification in those films, and you can have more autonomy and independence creatively because the fate of the studio doesn’t hang in the balance. They were economically attractive then and they are becoming more so. Don’t get me wrong. Tentpoles are important; every studio needs those billion-dollar-grossing movie. I had a breather where I got to think about what I want to be and who I want to be in business with, and I have a good sense of that now and that is what I want to roll into 2.0.”

When Belgrad exited, Sony chief Tom Rothman told Deadline he intended for Belgrad to become a key supplier and was incentivized to get him started. Sony has helped get 2.0 off the ground by bringing Belgrad in as financier and in some cases producer on key films on the studio slate, most of which Belgrad helped initiate while president.

“Peter Rabbit is the movie Will Gluck will direct, with Animal Logic deep into character development and animatics in Australia, and the live-action shoot starting early next year,” Belgrad said. “Zombieland was one that Matt Tolmach supervised, but producer Gavin Polone, Ruben Fleischer and I have tried to figure out a sequel for the last four years, one that pleases Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and Abigail Breslin. Wernick & Reese, who did the original before they did Deadpool, came back and polished a script that Dave Callaham wrote and Mike White and Oren Uziel did passes on. It’s very encouraging.” Belgrad won’t produce this, just co-finance.

Bad Boys 3 brings him back to a franchise from his formative years at the studio. “I was fortunate to be the creative exec on the first one early in my career, with Simpson and Bruckheimer and a movie that really broke Martin Lawrence and Will Smith as big feature stars,” Belgrad said. The film, to be directed by Joe Carnahan, is on track to begin production after Smith completes the David Ayer-directed Bright for Netflix. “The script reinvigorates in a smart way a quintessential action comedy franchise,” Belgrad said.

It’s unclear if he’ll be a producer on that one but he will join Elizabeth Banks, Max Handelman and Elizabeth Cantillon as producer on Charlie’s Angels, the reboot which Banks will direct. He’ll also be a producer on Mulan, a live-action film that Jason Keller is writing, based on the Chinese myth of the female warrior who disguises herself as a man. “The plan is to shoot predominantly or exclusively in China with a Chinese partner and a mostly Chinese cast,” Belgrad said. “It’s a Hollywood movie made for the world, but which we think will have immense appeal in China.”

He will join Jennifer Klein and Liman’s Hypnotic partner Dave Bartis in producing Mallory, a Sheldon Turner-scripted adaption of the Jeffrey Archer book Paths Of Glory.

Shepherding the projects will be Cassidy, who was a development exec at Summit and worked on acquisitions like The Hurt Locker and Fair Game, and homegrown projects like The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, before she was brought into Open Road by Tom Ortenberg. At Open Road she has been SVP Production and Acquisitions, overseeing films including Mother’s Day, Nightcrawler, Dope and Spotlight as well as Oliver Stone’s Snowden, which plays the Toronto Film Festival.

“I met Sophie when she was Scott Greenberg’s assistant and was impressed by her taste and sensibilities,” Belgrad said. “She will help spearhead our activity in television, as well.”

[GeneChing]

Global casting call, eh? Hmm, who might make a good Mulan?

Mulan is a solid play for Disney.


Disney's Live-Action 'Mulan' Gets Winter 2018 Release Date (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disneys-live-action-mulan-gets-934976)
11:16 AM PDT 10/4/2016 by Pamela McClintock

http://cdn4.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2015/03/mulan_a_l.jpg
Photofest
'Mulan'

The studio is launching a global casting search for a Chinese actress to play the legendary female heroine.
Disney's live-action retelling of the classic musical animated hit Mulan is a go.

The movie, which is being fast-tracked, will hit theaters Nov. 2, 2018, and be released in 3D, the studio announced Tuesday.

Disney is launching a global casting search for a Chinese actress to play Mulan. Hard to beat Zhao Wei (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53202-Mulan&p=981786#post981786), IMO, even though her version was weak. What can I say? Zhao Wei hypnotized me long ago (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?59579-Tiger-Mothers-and-FOB-Moms&p=1284428#post1284428).

The news that the studio is turning its 1998 animated hit into a live-action title comes after such successes as Maleficent, The Jungle Book and Cinderella, among other titles. And Disney is currently gearing up for the release of the live-action Beauty and the Beast, which opens March 17 and is expected to be one of the top-grossing titles of 2017.

The studio also announced that Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Jurassic World) were brought aboard to rewrite a spec script for Mulan that Disney bought in 2015. Jaffa and Silver also are working on the Avatar sequel.

The Disney team saw the spec, by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin, as a jumping-off point for a more nuanced and elaborate adaptation, combining the legendary Chinese ballad and the 1998 animated film.

A director for Mulan has yet to be announced. Jason Reed is attached to produce along with Chris Bender and Jake Weiner.

Like the 1998 animated film, Mulan is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, the daughter of an aged warrior who disguises herself as a man in order to take her father's place in the army and go to war. Aided by her trusted dragon, Mushu, she becomes a skilled warrior and one of the country's greatest heroines.

[GeneChing]

#MakeMulanRight :rolleyes:


10.10.2016

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CREATORS OF DISNEY'S LIVE-ACTION FEATURE FILM 'THE LEGEND OF MULAN'
Guest Post by ConcernedForMulan

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pOS_WH9d_xw/V_sXIdHuaDI/AAAAAAAAEKU/dWFzX1qhvSMmr_vgPYsXVWuLack0dRThgCLcB/s1600/mulan04.jpg

A white merchant's business brings him to the heart of a legendary Asian conflict -- he unwittingly helps save the day while winning the heart of the Asian female. Am I describing the plotline of the Netflix series Marco Polo? No. I'm describing the spec script that Disney bought for its live-action feature film, The Legend of Mulan, which is projected for release in 2018.

As an Asian American person in the industry, I am furious after reading this script. I am writing this letter anonymously so all the fans anticipating this remake will know how problematic it is in its current form. We must urge the creators of Disney's live-action Mulan to reconsider the story before the film goes into production.

The 1998 Disney animated classic focused on Mulan's transition from being a young girl failing to fit the mold of a perfect daughter and wife to a heroine whose brave acts ultimately save ancient China. Her determination allows her to rise above the gender expectations of her culture and become the one who brings "honor to us all." Hers is essentially an Asian American tale because it fused Asian characters and culture with a coming-of-age hero's journey that resonated with American audiences.

So why does the script for the live-action remake feature a white male lead?

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WouCHFTtNn4/V_saLBz1UDI/AAAAAAAAEKo/EyrDloQPwco3Dd7B25kNqt64ry7i4T8LwCLcB/s1600/thelegendofmulan_script01.jpg

The man is a 30-something European trader who initially cares only for the pleasure of women and money. The only reason why he and his entourage decide to help the Chinese Imperial Army is because he sets eyes on Mulan. That's right. Our white savior has come to the aid of Ancient China due to a classic case of Yellow Fever. In this script written by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin, more than half of its pages are dedicated to this merchant who develops a mutual attraction with Mulan and fights to protect her in the ensuing battles. To top it all off, this man gets the honor of defeating the primary enemy of China, not Mulan. Way to steal a girl's thunder.

I am deeply disturbed that a remake of the beloved Disney classic rejects the cultural consciousness of its predecessor by featuring a white male lead, once again perpetuating the myth that cultural stories are not worth telling without a western lens or star. Instead of seizing the opportunity to highlight a tenacious, complex female warrior, this remake diminishes her agency. But what I find equally troubling is the fact that Disney plans to cast a 16-17 year old established Chinese actress as Mulan, and will not be casting an Asian American.

Let's set aside the clear pedophilic implications that arise when you cast a teenage girl alongside a 30-something romantic interest. That one is self-explanatory. I want to address the missed opportunity of tapping into the Asian-American actor populace who grew up watching the animated Mulan, eyes glittering to see themselves finally featured on-screen. The fact that Mulan resonated so strongly with American audiences with its all-Asian character lineup and Asian American voice actors is a testament to what this live-action film could accomplish if it would simply trust the successful 1998 form. Even though this spec script references the original "Ballad of Mulan," its cultural landscape becomes a mere backdrop to its tired Blockbuster-style romantic and fantastical storyline -- as such, Mulan's resonance as an Asian-American retelling is lost.

Let's be real. Casting a Chinese actress as Mulan is a ploy to appeal to a Chinese market, which honestly will not be as enthusiastic as our American audience to see our retelling of a tale they know best. The animated film made $120 million in the U.S. and Canada combined, and completely flopped in Chinese markets because her character was so different from what the Chinese recognized. If this live-action film tries to cater to both the Chinese and American markets without understanding the cultural implications of its creative choices, this film will fall short of both. If the film splits focus from Mulan to a white male lead and is more interested in targeting a Chinese market with its casting, it will estrange its immensely devoted American audience.

http://www.angryasianman.com/images/angry/mulan01.jpg

The Mulan we know and love from 1998 is the main reason for the huge anticipation for this film. We expect it to be a thoroughly respectful homage to that Mulan. That Mulan had intricacy and depth as she struggled between honoring her father and finding her place in the world. And most certain of all, that Mulan did not need a white man to help fight her battles and give her a kiss at the end.

If this is the rendition of Mulan that is released, Disney will face an avalanche of backlash. This remake 20 years in the making would ethically set us back 40 years. But there is still time during this pre-production phase to really rethink the way we want to represent Asians and Asian culture in our media. There is time to hear the American fans of this story explain why Mulan of 1998 resonated with them so strongly. We can encourage the script's new writers, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver of Jurassic World, to take these factors into account. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is, from both a producing and ethical standpoint, to do justice to this time-honored character.

Mulan is the heroine that we want. Not some white dude. Please do not disappoint us, Disney.

#MakeMulanRight

[GeneChing]

Well, that's a relief. I've been hoping for a black male romantic interest for Mulan. ;)


DISNEY REBOOT
Don't Worry: Mulan Will Not Feature a White Male Lead (http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/mulan-white-male-lead-disney)
A source close to the project denied the rumor that swept the Internet Monday.
by YOHANA DESTAOCTOBER 10, 2016 6:40 PM

http://media.vanityfair.com/photos/57f40ca20c3020dd42f7848b/master/w_960,c_limit/mulan-live-action-movie.jpg
A scene from Mulan.
From Marka/Alamy.

Disney recently began its search for a leading lady to star in its upcoming live-action version of Mulan—an actress that, the studio clarified, will definitely be Chinese. That declaration eased concerns that the film might end up whitewashing a story based in Chinese legend, like several films that have come before it. Much of that goodwill dissipated, though, on Monday, when rumors flew that the film will feature a white male lead. Now a source close to the project has confirmed to Vanity Fair that the lead love interest in the film will be a Chinese character after all.

On Monday, someone who said they had read a Mulan spec script posted an anonymous open letter to the site Angry Asian Man. The post claimed that the script featured a white savior type, a “30-something European trader” who falls in love with a teenage Mulan. Actor Joel De La Fuente tweeted in support of the article, sharing that he also read the spec script. “I can back you up on what you’re saying. I confirm everything you said about that draft.”


10 Oct
Angry Asian Man ✔ @angryasianman
That said, I KNOW there are other people in the industry who have seen this script and can back me up on this. #MakeMulanRight
Follow

Joel de la Fuente ✔ @joeldelafuente
@angryasianman I can back you up on what you’re saying. I confirm everything you said about that draft.
10:53 AM - 10 Oct 2016
81 81 Retweets 164 164 likes
A source, however, tells V.F. that the spec script will not serve as the official script for the adaptation. “The spec script was a jumping-off point for a new take on the story that draws from both the literary ballad of Mulan and Disney’s 1998 animated film," the source said. "Mulan is and will always be the lead character in the story, and all primary roles, including the love interest, are Chinese.”

The statement seems to confirm that the spec script might have included a white male lead, which would have been disappointing had it come to fruition. However, fans should be glad to know that when the live-action movie itself eventually hits theaters, Mulan's story will stay true to the character's roots.

[GeneChing]

‘Game Of Thrones’ Alex Graves To Helm Sony’s ‘Mulan’ (http://deadline.com/2016/10/mulan-movie-alex-graves-director-game-of-thrones-1201837552/)
by Mike Fleming Jr
October 17, 2016 1:03pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/alex-graves1.jpg?w=446&h=299&crop=1
REX/Shutterstock

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures has set Alex Graves to direct Mulan, its live-action adaptation of the Chinese legend based on Hua Mulan, the young female warrior who takes her ailing father’s place in the Chinese Imperial Army.

Related'Mulan' Gets 3D, Live Action Treatment From Disney For 2018
There are two live-action versions of Mulan, but this one is being designed for the international marketplace so it pace won’t necessarily be determined by progress on the Disney film — this pic is a Chinese co-production, there will be a Chinese lead, and the film will be done through Sony Pictures International Productions. The Sony film is scripted by Jason Keller and produced by Doug Belgrad, whose 2.0 Entertainment will be a co-financier and producer of the film.

Graves has been directing some of the hottest TV series episodes from Game Of Thrones to Homeland, Bloodline and Shameless. WME reps him.

I'm already reading some complaints that this should not have been a white director, that it should have been a Chinese director. I wonder if these critics ever bothered to see the ALL CHINESE Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53202-Mulan)that came out back in 2009. :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

Although this does faintly remind me of that Playboy artist Patrick Nagel.


Mulan, Disney's Often-Forgotten Princess, Gets an Absolutely Perfect Tribute (http://io9.gizmodo.com/mulan-disneys-often-forgotten-princess-gets-an-absolu-1791660210)
Germain Lussier
Thursday 4:00pm Filed to: THIS IS AWESOME

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--brYrmMcC--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/spsh51ryxtmma7mewteq.jpg

So often Mulan gets forgotten. The 1998 Disney film came out a little between the company’s golden eras. Because of that, we don’t see as many t-shirts, dolls, or posters of Mulan like you do for Ariel or Belle. But Disney is about to release a tribute that almost makes up for that. Almost.

Yes, the company is prepping a live-action remake, a fitting tribute indeed, but that’s years away. This tribute is out Friday, and it’s in the form of a striking new poster from Cyclops Print Works. The poster by artist Craig Drake is a 24 x 36 inch, 23-color screenprint, in two editions. Drake’s style combined with the colors and details create a simply gorgeous image, one that captures the power and beauty of the character in an absolutely perfect way.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--jqL8GQ6A--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/yquxq5x8vg6z9sxhuiru.jpg
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--JKXJYfoZ--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/petatizhwtxa3q2nwczf.jpg

The top version is an edition of 95. And the bottom is an edition of 50. They cost $100 and $110 respectively. So it’s a relatively expensive, very small run to be sure, but anyone who gets one will have just about the best Mulan poster ever.

The posters go on sale at noon PST on Friday January 27 to celebrate the Lunar New Year at Cyclops Print Works.

As for that live-action movie, no real news has cropped up since last October when it was announced the film would be released November 2, 2018. But you’d expect at least a director to be announced soon. It’s going to be written by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin as “a more nuanced and elaborate adaptation” of material “combining the legendary ballad and the 1998 animated film.”

[GeneChing]

I stumbled over a queue of potential Mulans. I will post some.


ENTERTAINMENT
Meet the Canadian Actress Who Could Be Disney’s Next Mulan (http://nextshark.com/meet-canadian-actress-disneys-next-mulan/)
By Carl Samson Posted on January 23, 2017

http://nextshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/AAA-2.jpg

A new name has been added to the growing list of actresses who might snag the lead role in Disney’s live-action remake of “Mulan”.

Cpoplove received a tip from insider casting sources this week which claimed that the company is looking at Eunice Kang to play the highly-coveted character.

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Kang is a Canadian independent film actress of Korean descent who appeared in FOX’s “Lucifer”. She’s skilled in muay thai and taekwondo, so it’s not surprising to hear she’s being considered.

In addition to her martial arts prowess, Kang also speaks multiple languages, including Korean, Japanese and Mandarin.

Whether Kang becomes the legendary female heroine is yet to be seen. Last week, following strong speculations that 22-year-old Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo bagged the role, Disney announced that they’re “still in the casting process.”

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Nevertheless, it’s safe to expect that Mulan and her love interest will be Asian, or Disney will face the wrath of a fandom since 1998.

Other actresses rumored to play Mulan include Fan Bingbing, Katie Leung, Jamie Chung, Zhang Ziyi and Ting-ting Hu.

[GeneChing]

Meet the Aussie Woman Who Could Be Disney’s Mulan (http://nextshark.com/natasha-liu-bordizzo-aussie-woman-disneys-mulan/)
By Carl Samson Posted on January 18, 2017

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With Disney’s live-action retelling of the 1998 animated film bound to hit theaters next year, fans are eagerly pitting names for the coveted lead role.

For some, “Mulan” might be Natasha Liu Bordizzo, a 22-year-old Australian actress who first appeared in last year’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny.”

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Ah yes, we remember Natasha from CTHD2 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?65170-Crouching-Tiger-Hidden-Dragon-2-Sword-of-Destiny&p=1291403#post1291403). She was one of the only good elements in that.

[-N-]

I stumbled over a queue of potential Mulans. I will post some.

Just bring back Zhao Wei for a remake.

[GeneChing]

Interesting choice. I loved Whale Rider (2002)


FEBRUARY 14, 2017 12:29pm PT by Rebecca Sun
Disney's Live-Action 'Mulan' Finds Director (Exclusive) (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/disneys-live-action-mulan-finds-director-975869)

http://cdn5.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale_crop_768_433/2017/02/niki_caro_and_william_kong.jpg
Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney; Han Myung-Gu/WireImage
Niki Caro, William Kong

Niki Caro will helm the film, while ‘Crouching Tiger’ producer Bill Kong is joining as executive producer.

Niki Caro, who broke through with the 2002 Maori family drama Whale Rider, will direct Disney’s live-action Mulan, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

In an industry where female-helmed tentpoles are still rare, Caro will be the second woman at the studio to direct a movie budgeted at over $100 million. (Ava DuVernay is the first, with A Wrinkle in Time.)

Caro’s most recent film, Focus’ upcoming The Zookeeper’s Wife, has been praised for its gender-inclusive set by its star, Jessica Chastain. Disney previously worked with Caro, a New Zealand native, on the 2015 cross-country drama McFarland, USA, for which she lived in central California for nearly a year to immerse herself in the Mexican-American community there.

Disney also considered other women for its woman-warrior project, including Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins and Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones). Caro’s hiring likely takes her out of the running for Captain Marvel, the studio’s first female-fronted superhero movie. THR reported last August that she was on the short list of directors for that film, along with Homeland’s Lesli Linka Glatter and Lorene Scafaria, who helmed 2012’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.

Disney and producers Chris Bender, Jason Reed and Jake Weiner are taking pains to assure fans that Mulan will be culturally authentic. The studio had initially sought an Asian director for the project, meeting with Ang Lee (who passed, citing scheduling) and Rogue One star Jiang Wen, a hit director in his native China. Sony, which is developing a rival live-action film about the Chinese legend, also hoped to put an Asian director at the helm, but ultimately hired television veteran Alex Graves.

In addition to extensive conversations with Chinese cultural consultants and working closely with Disney’s own China-based team, the studio is bringing on Hong Kong-based super-producer Bill Kong as executive producer. Kong produced the most successful Chinese films to cross over — Hero, House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which he received an Oscar nomination — as well as many of China’s biggest hits, including Monster Hunt, Wolf Totem and Journey to the West.

Last fall, controversy briefly arose when reports surfaced that the original spec that Disney purchased, written by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin, featured non-Chinese characters, including a white male lead. Disney quickly responded that Mulan and all primary characters in its movie, which has been rewritten by Jurassic World’s Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, will remain Chinese. The studio is focusing its casting search in mainland China for the main roles, including the legendary woman warrior herself.

Caro is repped by UTA, Artists House and Lichter Grossman.

Rebecca Ford and Borys Kit contributed to this story.

[GeneChing]

http://static2.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mulan.jpg
What Disney can learn from the 2009 Chinese live-action ‘Mulan’ (http://www.hypable.com/chinese-mulan-2009-jingle-ma-disney-tips/)
HERE'S WHAT 'HUA MULAN' GOT RIGHT
4:30 PM EST, FEBRUARY 17, 2017
DISNEYFEATURES
NASIM MANSURI

Disney seems to have a long-term plan to churn out live-action versions of its most popular animations, and Mulan is the latest of its projects. The live-action version of the Chinese legend is already getting us excited, but many people don’t know that an excellent live-action Mulan movie already exists, made by a Chinese studio.

Hua Mulan (sometimes translated as Mulan: Rise of a Warrior) is a 2009 film by director Jingle Ma. It tells the story of Hua Mulan, a young woman who goes to war instead of her aging father, and rises in the army’s ranks. It won many awards in China, and stars Wei Zhao as Mulan.

Disney’s Mulan wasn’t favorably received in China when it was released, with audiences saying it was too different from the original legend, and too Westernized. Now would be a good time for the studio to make the film as globally appealing as it can be — and Hua Mulan is a perfect example of how to do our favorite female warrior justice.

Here are some things Hua Mulan got right that Disney would do well to learn from.

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Bringing more realism to the legend

Hua Mulan follows a plot that is more loyal to the original legend of Mulan, which states that she was a warrior for the Chinese army for over a decade. In the film, she even becomes a General, and retires with the nation’s respect, even after her identity as a woman is revealed.

Seeing Mulan lead thousands of men in Hua Mulan is a rare and empowering experience. Her struggles as a woman in a position of power, and the various dilemmas that come with commanding such a large number of people, are what bring intensity and meaning to the story. Mulan itself explored the concept of honor and femininity as well, but we only got a very small glimpse at the power that the legendary Mulan is said to have actually wielded.

While Disney may not want to make a movie that ventures too far from a family friendly atmosphere by portraying a Mulan who goes to war too realistically (as in, showing her killing enemies), it would be great to see her rise in the ranks and revolutionize such a male-dominated space the way she is said to have done.

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Not shying away from the grit — but not making it too grim, either

Hua Mulan does an excellent job of skirting the line between grim tragedy and friendly comedy. With thousands of extras, the battle scenes are as breathtaking and inspiring as they are horrifying. There’s a scene where Mulan counts the dog tags of all the fallen soldiers, and a considerable amount of time is spent exploring her despair and responsibility as the army’s struggle becomes more desperate. The emotional rawness of the story creates a very real, very flawed, yet very lovable Mulan — and takes audiences on an exploration of heroism, perseverance, and honor.

Of course, we can’t expect Disney to go all out with blood and grit — they’re bound to bring out Mushu, after all — but Disney prides itself on epic battles and fantastic special effects, and they’ll want to serve us war scenes as breathtaking and realistic as possible.

However, we’re all tired of grittiness for grittiness’ sake. Despite the heaviness of the more emotional scenes of Hua Mulan, there is sweetness and humor. The friendships in the army, much like those of Disney’s version, can be laugh-out-loud funny, and the scenes of Mulan’s struggle to preserve her male appearance are equally fun to watch.

After all, audiences won’t be going to see Mulan to see war and sadness — the animated version was fun and adventurous, and although it had somber moments, it still managed to keep things just lighthearted enough for us to not get too sad. With animation, that lightheartedness is an easier task; portraying war with real actors could prove a more difficult challenge.

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Establishing more depth in the main relationship

In Hua Mulan, Mulan and Wentai’s relationship is beautiful, but it builds over a long period of time, and strengthens through their mutual respect as they both struggle to lead an army. Their love is based on that combination of trust built over time, and shared responsibility.

Shang and Mulan have what is possibly one of the best relationships Disney has ever come up with. Among the Disney ‘princesses,’ Mulan and Shang probably have the greatest chemistry and story of all, and scenes from the animated film continue to be shipping fuel. Presumably, they’ll want to replicate this relationship in the new live-action version.

However, the animated film was sadly limited to only a few glimpses of the developing relationship. It would be amazing if we could see more of the friendship between Shang and Mulan (as Ping) and how it becomes something more. It’s rare in a ‘princess’ movie to see romance begin with sincere friendship, and it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with the confusion regarding Mulan’s gender in both a funny and profound way.

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Giving it a more realistic conclusion

There are some scenes that could do with a makeover, especially at the very end. Mulan’s final trick to kill Shan Yu — by dressing three soldiers in drag and having them attempt to distract him — is hilarious in the animation, but would come off as strange and unrealistic in a live-action movie, and perhaps even a little offensive.

Hua Mulan’s approach to defeating the enemy is a much more powerful one. Although it equals Mulan in stealth and cleverness, it involves realistic strategy and power dynamics, and finally involves her making a deal that saves China through negotiation, rather than war — and making a terribly painful personal sacrifice.

Disney has a penchant for epic final battle scenes, but that isn’t what happens in either Mulan or Hua Mulan. In both cases, it’s Mulan’s cleverness that saves the day. It would be great to see that cleverness translated into a realistic solution, in the same way it does in Hua Mulan.

It’s not like Disney hasn’t subverted its own canon, after all. In Maleficient, it isn’t the prince’s kiss that lifts the spell. Disney could certainly benefit from giving Mulan a more epic finale, and perhaps one that does her legendary character justice.

Immersing us in historically-accurate China

Besides perhaps The Jungle Book, we’ve yet to see a live-action adaptation that takes place in a non-European culture. In fact, this would be the first film to employ solely actors of color. What Disney decides to do here will be particularly interesting; since Aladdin will be getting its own adaptation soon, and Pocahontas could also follow in the live-action trend, the decisions taken here will likely set a precedent for what will be done with those films.

There were rumors earlier of Mulan having a white love interest, which now seem to be crushed, thankfully. We want to see a film with an entirely Asian cast — hopefully at least mostly Chinese — and get a chance to explore the scenery, sets and props of ancient China.

Although, it’s only fair to say that Hua Mulan also has its own white character — a Russian singer called Vitas, who inexplicably pops up now and again. That’s another tip for Disney: don’t just insert white guys into the story for no reason.

Hua Mulan’s shots of rural China are beautiful and unique, and it would be amazing to see what Disney can do if they choose to show much of what they did in animation, with real sets and locations. Hopefully, Disney gets a chance to actually film in China itself.

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All this doesn’t go to say that we want a copy of Hua Mulan. Not at all. Hua Mulan is an excellent film in its own right, but it’s considerably more adult than Disney would ever dare make an adaptation. The realism of its wars and of the toll duty takes on Mulan and her companions is nothing like the fun, if occasionally emotional, adventure Disney took us on with Mulan.

Disney’s version is a movie to be excited about, and the additions the animated film made to the legend are what makes it a classic. It would be amazing to see Mushu, Shang, the ancestors, and maybe even the cricket, on screen, as well as the songs, of course! “Make a Man Out of You” with real actors will definitely be one of the biggest highlights.

So far, we know that Mulan’s director will be Niki Caro. Although she isn’t Chinese, a matter that raises a lot of questions about representation, it’s still encouraging to see a female director chosen — and if Caro’s powerful film Whale Rider is any indication, she’s rather good at telling empowering stories with female leads. Hopefully, the rest of the team can be filled with talented Chinese filmmakers that deserve to have a hand in rendering such a culturally significant story properly.

After all, Mulan is primarily a Chinese legend, and her story spans a history much longer than the 18 years since Disney’s animation came out.

In the meantime, go check out Hua Mulan, which is a fascinating film (although a considerably more adult one; you’ve been warned)!

I don't really agree with this author. I wasn't overly impressed by Zhao Wei's Mulan. And I'm a fan of Zhao Wei.

[GeneChing]

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Disney's Mulan Live-Action Movie Gets Delayed Until 2019 (http://movieweb.com/mulan-disney-remake-new-release-date-2019-live-action/)
BRIAN GALLAGHER 07.15.2017

Earlier today, Disney held its live-action films panel at the D23 Expo, where the studio unveiled new footage and details for its upcoming slate, including upcoming Marvel movies, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and much more. The studio also announced a few changes to its release slate, pushing the highly-anticipated Mulan live-action movie out of its previously-announced November 2, 2018 release date, and into an unspecified date in 2019. While no specific date was given, Disney has already staked out two dates for 2019 movies, on November 8, 2019 and December 20, 2019, so it's possible this project could take one of those slots.

While Disney took the opportunity at the panel to announce cast members for other upcoming projects such as their Aladdin remake, no casting announcements were made for Mulan, which could be why the release date was shifted. The Mulan 2018 release date was announced last October, although there has never been any confirmation as to when production may begin. The live-action remake had come under fire last fall, when rumors circulated that the studio was seeking a white male character for the lead role, instead of the title character Mulan, but the studio debunked that rumor, stating that Mulan will have an "all-Asian cast."

The rumor surfaced after it was reported that the Mulan spec script Disney purchased, from writers Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin, centers on a, "30-something European trader who initially cares only for the pleasure of women and money," who becomes the love interest to Mulan. Disney responded by stating that the script was a "jumping off point," for a story that will draw from both the "literary ballad of Mulan" and the 1998 Disney animated film, which featured Ming-Na Wen as the voice of the title character. Disney also confirmed that Mulan and all of the primary roles, including the love interest, will in fact be Chinese.

The last update we had from Mulan was back in March, when director Niki Caro revealed that this story will be a "muscular piece of girly martial arts extravaganza in China." The director also revealed that she will begin preparing for this movie by taking martial arts lessons herself, alongside her nine-year-old daughter. She also shot down talk that this would be a live-action musical, with no songs being planned at this time, despite the animated version featuring beloved songs such as "Reflection" and "I'll Make a Man Out of You." It's possible that the studio could change its mind regarding the musical aspect and it's possible that may be why the release date changed, but no specific reason was given by the studio.

Niki Caro, who most recently directed McFarland USA for Disney, is directing from a script by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who were brought in to rewrite the original spec. The original Mulan earned $120.6 million domestically and $304.3 million worldwide when it first hit theaters in 1998. Oddly enough, Mulan was one of the few Disney Princesses who were not shown in a new scene from Wreck-It Ralph 2, which features the voice talent of Jodi Benson (Ariel), Paige O'Hara (Belle), Linda Larkin (Jasmine), Irene Bedard (Pocahontas), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana), Mandy Moore (Rapunzel), Kelly MacDonald (Merida) and Kristen Bell (Anna). Hopefully we'll find out more about this Mulan remake soon. Missed the Wreck-It Ralph 2 snub. :o

[GeneChing]

NOVEMBER 29, 2017 9:00am PT by Rebecca Sun, Rebecca Ford
Disney's 'Mulan' Finds Its Star (Exclusive)
(https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/disneys-mulan-finds-star-1061585)

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Getty Images

Chinese actress Liu Yifei, also known as Crystal Liu, is set to play the lead in the live-action adaptation directed by Niki Caro.
After a yearlong worldwide search, Mulan has been found.

Chinese actress Liu Yifei, also known as Crystal Liu, is set to star as the title woman warrior in Disney's live-action adaptation of the classic Chinese tale.

A team of casting directors visited five continents and saw nearly 1,000 candidates for the role, which requires credible martial arts skills, the ability to speak English and the most ineffable requirement of all: star quality. In deference to cultural accuracy, the studio focused on locating an ethnically Chinese young woman to play Hua Mulan, who disguised herself as a man to take her father's army conscription in fifth-century China.

In Liu, Disney found the complete package. Nicknamed "Fairy Sister" by the Chinese public for her pure and innocent looks and image, she has been one of the country's most popular actresses of the current generation since breaking out with a series of hit television dramas in the mid-2000s, while she was still a teenager enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy. She is fluent in English, having lived in Queens, N.Y., for part of her childhood, and acted in English in both 2008's The Forbidden Kingdom, alongside Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and 2014's Outcast, opposite Nicolas Cage and Hayden Christensen. She also starred opposite Emile Hirsch in Danish auteur Bille August's period romance The Chinese Widow, which opened the Shanghai International Film Festival in June.

Liu, who has served as a brand ambassador for Dior, Tissot, Garnier and Pantene, most recently starred in the fantasy romance Once Upon a Time, which earned $82.3 million in China this summer. Her other credits include 2012's The Assassins, which earned Liu her first major acting award (at the Macau International Movie Festival), Never Gone and The Four trilogy. She recently signed with WME and continues to be represented by Chinese manager David Chen.

Niki Caro, who most recently helmed The Zookeeper’s Wife, is directing Disney's live-action Mulan, which is produced by Chris Bender, Jason Reed and Jake Weiner and eyeing a 2019 release. The 1998 animated version, voice-starring Agents of SHIELD's Ming-Na Wen alongside Eddie Murphy and B.D. Wong, earned $304.3 million worldwide as well as Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.


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I'm happy for Crystal, but having met her, no amount of make-up and cross-dressing will ever make me mistake her for a man.

[GeneChing]

What Disney’s Newly Cast Mulan Says About the Studio’s Next Splashy Remake (https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/11/disney-mulan-actress-liu-yifei)
Actress Liu Yifei, also known as Crystal Liu, has been selected to play the iconic titular role.
by YOHANA DESTA
NOVEMBER 29, 2017 1:31 PM

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Left, from VCG/Getty Images; Right, from Buena Vista Pictures/Everett Collection.

Disney has finally found a leading lady to play the titular role in Mulan. Stateside audiences, prepare to meet actress Liu Yifei (also known as Crystal Liu), the Chinese star tasked with bringing the role into live action. Liu was picked after a year of speculation over who would star in the new adaptation, and Disney reportedly sorted through nearly 1,000 candidates before picking her, according to the The Hollywood Reporter.

Liu, 30, has previously starred in a number of TV shows and films, including Chinese-American projects like the 2008 action-fantasy The Forbidden Kingdom—which also starred Jackie Chan and Jet Li—and the 2014 film Outcast, featuring Nicolas Cage and Hayden Christensen. That action experience will serve her well for the role of Mulan, a tomboy who eschews her domestic life to become a legendary warrior.

Per T.H.R., Liu is also already a bankable star in China. She recently headlined the fantasy romance Once Upon a Time, which earned $82.3 million, and is currently serving as a brand ambassador for Dior, Tissot, Garnier, and Pantene. She’s a known entity with hits under her belt, someone with experience both in English-language films and Chinese productions—a double whammy that should help her appeal to both American audiences who grew up on Disney’s animated version of Mulan and Chinese audiences who want to see her story represented well.

This casting decision ticks off quite a few important boxes for Disney. For one, now that they can put a face to Mulan, fans will no longer focus on false rumors about the studio potentially whitewashing the story. In addition, casting a Chinese star helps the studio cater directly to Chinese audiences, the all-important demographic that can bolster or destroy blockbuster’s global box-office hopes. It’s no secret that Hollywood has spent the past several years openly courting Chinese theatergoers; see, for example, Lucasfilm tapping stars like Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen to star in Rogue One. Given its subject matter, Mulan could be the ultimate culmination of those box-office dreams. Of course, the film also seems guaranteed to be a hit no matter what, considering the strong performances of past Disney live-action reboots; Beauty and the Beast, for instance, crossed the $1 billion mark and is the highest-grossing film of 2017. Still, it doesn’t hurt to cast a star who will ensure the film’s titular role is grounded in cultural accuracy.

Liu’s casting is also fascinating for another reason: the actress is much older than Mulan was in both the original animated film and the Chinese legend. Aging Mulan up a few years will allow the studio to make a slightly more mature film, which seems in line with the character’s adventurous story line—and it could also mean an opportunity for age-appropriate romance, albeit not with the white male lead some fans worried Disney was intent on casting. Niki Caro, the filmmaker who helmed dramas like North Country and Whale Rider, is set to direct the film.

Forbidden Kingdom (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=758)
Outcast (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68382-Outcast)
Once Upon a Time (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70337-Once-Upon-a-Time)

[GeneChing]

Wow. Now I'm even more invested in this.


APRIL 11, 2018 4:53PM PT
‘Mulan’ Live-Action Disney Reboot Casts ‘Rogue One’ Star Donnie Yen (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/newreply.php?p=1306486&noquote=1)
By Justin Kroll @krolljvar
Film Reporter
@krolljvar

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/donnie-yen.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
CREDIT: VIANNEY LE CAER/INVISION/AP/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Donnie Yen is set to star opposite Liu Yifei in Disney’s live-action adaptation of “Mulan.”

Niki Caro is directing, and Chris Bender, Jason Reed, and Jake Weiner are producing the movie. The film’s release was recently pushed back by more than a year to March 27, 2020.

The English-language version of the original “Mulan” (1998) featured the voices of Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, Miguel Ferrer, and BD Wong, while Jackie Chan voiced Chinese dubs of the movie. The animated film grossed $304.3 million worldwide.

“Jurassic World” and “Avatar” sequel scribes Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver came on board in 2015 to rewrite the spec by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin.

The studio’s emphasis on live-action reboots follows the successes of “Maleficent,” “Cinderella,” “The Jungle Book,” and, most recently, “Beauty and the Beast,” which was one 2017’s biggest box office hits. The studio is now shooting “Dumbo,” with Tim Burton directing and Colin Farrell starring.

Yen recently appeared in another Disney tentpole: 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” He also has ties to Chinese singer-actress Yifei, who co-starred in “Ip Man 3.” Yen just started filming “Ip Man 4.”

He is repped by CAA, Bullet Films, and Bloom Hergott. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.

[GeneChing]

Woah. WHAAATTT?!?

So awesome.

Note - THR messed up on the photo caption. Hopefully the original article will correct that soon. :o



APRIL 12, 2018 10:00am PT by Rebecca Sun
Disney's Live-Action 'Mulan' Lands Gong Li, Jet Li (Exclusive) (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/disneys-live-action-mulan-lands-gong-li-jet-li-1101994)

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Left, Laurent Viteur, right, Jesse Grant, both Getty Images

Gong Li will play the live-action film's villain, while Jet Li is in final talks for the emperor.
Disney's live-action Mulan has landed two massive Chinese stars, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.

Jet Li is in final talks to play the emperor of China, who orders the mobilization of troops via the conscription of one male from each household. The titular heroine, Hua Mulan (Liu Yifei), disguises herself as a man in order to spare her elderly father from having to join the military.

The Beijing-born Li is one of China's biggest and most enduring crossover stars. After the martial arts champ became a superstar in Asia on the strength of franchises like Shaolin Temple and Once Upon a Time in China, he made his Hollywood debut in 1998's Lethal Weapon 4, followed by Romeo Must Die opposite Aaliyah in 2000. His other credits include Zhang Yimou's Hero, Peter Ho-Sun Chan's 2007 epic The Warlords and The Expendables series.

Meanwhile, Gong Li is confirmed as the villain of Mulan, a powerful witch (this appears to be a departure from Disney's 1998 animated version, in which the primary antagonist was Shan Yu, leader of the invading Huns).

Gong has long been considered one of China's finest actresses and greatest beauties. A longtime muse of Zhang Yimou since her debut in 1988's Red Sorghum, she also has starred in his The Story of Qiu Ju (for which she won two best actress awards at Venice), Raise the Red Lantern, Curse of the Golden Flower and, most recently, 2014's Coming Home. She also earned international acclaim in Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine. Gong starred opposite Jeremy Irons in Wayne Wang's Chinese Box and has acted in English in Memoirs of a Geisha, Miami Vice and Hannibal Rising.

Also joining the cast is Chinese-Vietnamese actress Xana Tang, who will play Mulan's sister (another original character for the live-action film). The New Zealand-based actress' credits include local series Filthy Rich and Australian series The Letdown and Dead Lucky.

Niki Caro is directing the film, which also includes Donnie Yen as Mulan's mentor, Commander Tung. Mulan, whose release date was pushed back to March 27, 2020, will begin shooting in August in China and New Zealand.

[GeneChing]

Live-action ‘Mulan’ remake will feature all-Asian cast (https://www.thelily.com/live-action-mulan-remake-will-feature-all-asian-cast/)
ANALYSIS | Not all studios are ignoring calls for better on-screen representation and diversity

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Actress Liu Yifei will play Mulan and actress Gong Li will play a powerful witch in Disney’s upcoming, Mulan. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty; Andreas Rentz/Getty)

Monica Castillo
April 13

Disney recently confirmed that Chinese superstar Gong Li will play the villain, a powerful witch, for the studio’s live-action remake of its 1998 animated movie, “Mulan.”

Disney is also in final talks with actor Jet Li for the role of emperor of China.

Previously announced castmates include Donnie Yen from the “Ip Man” action movie series as Commander Tung, and Liu Yifei as Mulan, a young Chinese woman who pretends to be a male soldier to take her elderly father’s place in the military. Yifei won the role after a year-long search for the next actress to play the role originally voiced by Ming-Na Wen.

New Zealand director Niki Caro (of “Whale Rider” fame) will direct the film which is set to premiere March 27, 2020.

It’s a baby step move for a company that didn’t have their first black princess until 2009. Less than a decade ago, diversity in Disney movies was much harder to find and even non-white characters were sometimes voiced by white actors.

David Spade voiced the lead in the Peruvian-set “The Emperor’s New Groove,” Jake Gyllenhaal led the Disney-produced adaptation of “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” and Johnny Depp didn’t go over entirely well as Tonto in their version of “The Lone Ranger.”

Most of the Disney live-action remakes – “Alice in Wonderland,” “Cinderella,” “Pete’s Dragon” and “Beauty and the Beast” – feature white actors in the lead roles. “The Jungle Book” starred a nonwhite lead, although according to Disney’s proposed release schedule, we’re also due for a live-action version of “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.”

The casting decision may look like a savvy business move, and it likely is. China is one of the top movie markets in the world and casting big stars from the country is a good way to get fans to support the movie.

As “Black Panther” and several movies before it have shown, representation matters. The effect of watching an Asian heroine fight battles and win can be an empowering experience for those who have never seen an American-made movie cast an Asian woman in the lead role.

This version may not replace people’s fondness for the original, but the remake gives us Disney’s first live-action movie with an all-Asian cast, and shows us that Disney is continuing to invest in diversity.



Monica Castillo is a writer for The Lily.

The next big question is 'who is the fight choreographer?' Please let it be Sammo...;)

[GeneChing]

Meh. I don't care about Li Shang. I wonder about Mu-Shu and Cri-Kee.


Mulan fans mourn Li Shang's alleged removal from live-action Disney remake (https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/mulan-live-action-li-shang-removal-disney-remake-cast-release-date-a8308236.html)
A circulating casting call sees the fan favourite replaced with a new love interest
Clarisse Loughrey @clarisselou 3 hours ago
The Independent Culture

https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2018/04/17/09/li-shang.jpg
Disney

Mulan fans have approached Disney's live-action remake with a (rightful) amount of suspicion.

There was a small furore over the revelation the original's songs would be cut - meaning no one would be making a man out of anyone - with concerns now being raised over a circulating casting call that sees the deletion of a beloved character.

Although, to be fair, we're still unsure as to the fate of Mushu, it also appears that Li Shang may have been erased from the remake: Mulan's commander and eventual love interest, who's particularly notable as many interpretations of the film code the character as bisexual.

Shang is shown clearly to possess a growing affection for Ping (Mulan disguised as a man in order to join the army), one not reserved for the rest of the soldiers, with the film definitely slotting in a few stolen glances between the pair. And his shock when she eventually reveals her true identity suggests he had no clue as to her disguise.

His character has now been reportedly replaced, according to the circulating casting call, with one Chen Honghui; a fellow recruit who becomes Ping's rival, but only falls for her once she reveals that she's a woman.


View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter

nerdy
@nerdyasians
saddened to report it’s basically been confirmed that li shang will not be in the live-action mulan.

the mulan casting call has been confirmed to be accurate. donnie yen was cast as “commander tung,” who is in the description for “chen honghui.”

rest in peace bisexual icon.

8:24 AM - Apr 16, 2018
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Which certainly seems to suggest that the film is not only ejecting a key character of the original, but also erasing a good chunk of its queer subtext. People are, unsurprisingly, not happy about this revelation.


princess mizzy 🌹
@hellomizzyy
i’m disgusted. disney is obviously still mad they accidentally made li shang bisexual, so they’re REMOVING ANY POSSIBILITY that “chen” is seen as bisexual. they make it clear he HATES mulan the whole time she’s presenting male. he bullies her up until he finds out she’s a woman. https://twitter.com/nerdyasians/status/985901721678303233 …

8:53 AM - Apr 16, 2018
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gabi
@harleivy
disney when they realized they accidentally made li shang bisexual by having him fall in love with mulan while he thought she was a boy and that there's nothing they can say now to deny it or change that fact

12:11 PM - Apr 12, 2018
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estefany -9
@brookIynmarvel
since li shang THE bisexual king will not be in the mulan live action and instead they're introducing that new problematic character that bullies her up until he finds out she's a woman i don't care about it anymore and i hope it flops

6:51 PM - Apr 16, 2018
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Furthermore, Mulan will now be trained by Commander Tung, played by Ip Man and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story star Donnie Yen. Niki Caro – of Whale Rider and The Zookeeper's Wife fame - will direct, with Yifei Liu already cast as the titular hero.

Influential producer Bill Kong will act as executive producer, having previously worked on various hits, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and Monster Hunt.

Mulan reaches cinemas in 2020.

I never really picked up on the bisexual vibe of Li Shang before. Not sure why I overlooked that. Maybe because Ping was so overtly female, despite the cross-dressing. These new sexual politics are so confusing...

[GeneChing]

Good for Ron Yuan. I've been wondering what would be next for him.


‘Mulan’: Utkarsh Ambudkar & Ron Yuan Added To Disney’s Live-Action Adaptation (http://deadline.com/2018/05/mulan-utkarsh-ambudkar-ron-yuan-disney-1202396832/)
by Amanda N'Duka
May 23, 2018 1:55pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2056/04/utkarsh-ambudkar-ron-yuan-2-shot.jpg?w=446&h=299&crop=1
Rex/Shutterstock

EXCLUSIVE: Utkarsh Ambudkar (The Mindy Project, Pitch Perfect) and Ron Yuan (Netflix’s Marco Polo) have come aboard the Niki Caro-directed live-action adaptation of Disney’s Mulan, which has Chinese actress Liu Yifei set to play the title role.

Based on the studio’s 1998 animated feature, which was based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, the pic follows the rise of Mulan during the Han Dynasty when this daughter of a legendary warrior impersonates a man to fight against a Hun invasion.

Ambudkar will play Skatch, a con artist, while Yuan is the fiercely loyal Sergeant Qiang, second in command of the Imperial Regiment.

Jason Reed, Chris Bender, and Jake Weiner producing, with Bill Kong serving as executive producer. Disney recently pushed the film’s release date back by two years from this coming November to March 27, 2020.


Ambudkar, repped by Gersh, 3 Arts Entertainment, and attorney Jackoway Tyerman, can be seen this summer in Blindspotting, which will be released via Summit Entertainment.

Repped by Greene & Associates Talent Agency, EWA, and attorney Linda Lichter, Yuan’s film credit includes The Accountant with Ben Affleck and Independence Day: Resurgence opposite Liam Hemsworth.

[GeneChing]

JUNE 06, 2018 9:00am PT by Rebecca Ford
Disney Casts 'Mulan' Love Interest (Exclusive) (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/mulan-disney-casts-yoson-an-as-love-interest-live-action-movie-1116949)

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/NFE_portrait/2018/06/2k4a3386v1_8x10-p_2018.jpg
Andi Crown
Yoson An

Yoson An, from New Zealand, will play Chen Honghui in Disney's live-action movie.

Disney's Mulan has cast Mulan's love interest: Yoson An, who hails from New Zealand.

The rising star, who is of Chinese descent, will star opposite Liu Yifei (also known as Crystal Liu), who is playing the titular heroine Hua Mulan, who disguises herself as a man in order to spare her elderly father from having to join the military.

An will play Chen Honghui, a confident and ambitious recruit who joins Commander Tung’s unit. He becomes Mulan's most important ally and eventual love interest. (This character differs from Li Shang, the Chinese army captain who was the main love interest in the animated film.)

Disney has made good on its plan to cast a primarily Chinese cast for their new film. The live-action movie already has several big Chinese names onboard, including Jet Li, who is playing the emperor of China, and Gong Li, who is playing the story's main villain, a poweful witch. Donnie Yen also has signed on to play Mulan's mentor, Commander Tung.

Additionally, The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively report that Chum Ehelepola has been cast in the role of Ramtish, who, along with Utkarsh Ambudkar's Skatch, are a con-artist duo in the film. The actor’s previous credits include Netflix’s Lady Dynamite, AMC’s Lodge 49 and Crackle's Sequestered. Ehelepola is repped by TCA Mgmt, Affirmative Entertainment, Mollison Keightley Management and Bloom Hergott.

Niki Caro is directing the film, which is set for a March 27, 2020, release. It is slated to start shooting in August in China and New Zealand.

Disney's 1998 animated Mulan, voice-starring Ming-Na Wen alongside Eddie Murphy and B.D. Wong, took in $304.3 million at the global box office and also earned Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.

Playing Chen Honghui will likely be a breakout role for An, whose previous credits include the HBO Asia series Grace and the upcoming shark thriller The Meg. He also will be seen in Universal’s Mortal Engines, which is set to hit theaters in December. An is repped by Auckland Actors in New Zealand and Silver Lining Entertainment.

The character differs because he's a recruit and not a captain? okaaaaay

[GeneChing]

JULY 25, 2018 4:39pm PT by Rebecca Sun
Disney's 'Mulan' Adds Jason Scott Lee (Exclusive) (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/disneys-mulan-adds-jason-scott-lee-1129918)

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/NFE_portrait/2018/07/jason_scott_lee_copy.jpg
Brie Childers

The 'Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story' alum will play a villainous warrior leader in the live-action remake.

Jason Scott Lee is going from playing Bruce Lee to a villainous Khan, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.

The American actor, who is of Chinese and Hawaiian descent, has joined Disney's live-action Mulan as Bori Khan, a warrior leader who is intent on avenging his father's death. He joins Gong Li on the antagonists' side, while the heroine's (Liu Yifei) team includes Donnie Yen, relative New Zealand newcomer Yoson An and Marco Polo's Ron Yuan. Jet Li, Pitch Perfect's Utkarsh Ambudkar, New Zealand actress Xana Tang and comic actor Chum Ehelepola round out the cast.

Jason Reed, Chris Bender, Jake Weiner and executive producer Bill Kong are producing the Niki Caro-helmed film, scheduled for a March 27, 2020 release. Executives Tendo Nagenda and Jessica Virtue are overseeing the production for Disney.

Lee is no stranger to Disney, having starred as Mowgli in Buena Vista's 1994 live-action The Jungle Book and voiced a character in 2002's animated Lilo & Stitch. But he may be best known for portraying the lead in Universal's 1993 biopic Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. His recent credits include Netflix's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny and indie film Burn Your Maps, starring Vera Farmiga and Jacob Tremblay.

Lee is represented by Untitled Entertainment and attorney Geoff Oblath of Jackoway Austen.

I always thought JSL was too thick bodied for the role of both Bruce Lee and Mowgli (never mind that Mowgli was Indian). But he could be good in this.

[Jimbo]

I never really picked up on the bisexual vibe of Li Shang before. Not sure why I overlooked that. Maybe because Ping was so overtly female, despite the cross-dressing. These new sexual politics are so confusing...

I never got that vibe, either. Although I've seen so many kung fu movies where, just because a female character dresses like a man, everybody (or almost everybody) thinks she's a man. One movie that comes to mind where the ruse does not work is the 1980 film Super Power, starring Billy Chong (a.k.a., Willy Dozan). His character isn't fooled at all by the girl dressed as a guy. Maybe the idea of a cross-dressing female character in a movie is considered revolutionary or whatever to the LGBT community, but it wasn't anything unusual in older KF films, and it did not necessarily indicate the character was gay or bi.

I wonder when American filmmakers will make a movie with an all-Asian cast that isn't limited to Chinese and Chinese characters (to appeal to the mainland China market) or Indian (to appeal to the India and Bollywood-loving market). In Hollywood, 'all-Asian' actually means 'all-Chinese (or Indian)'.

[GeneChing]

Cross dressing happens a lot in historic theater, like Shakespeare, too. I guess it was harder to tell back then? It's a fairly common historic theatrical device, but this may be fallout from the fact that in a lot of renaissance-period theater, only men were allowed to perform. This happens in both Europe and Asia. Women were thought to be too prurient for stage, or some nonsense like that back stage.

I totally hear you about Asians in Hollywood, Jimbo. I think we're starting to see Asians cast in 'normal' roles, meaning it's not all about their Asian-ness. For example (and I may be mistaken on this because I don't really watch this show) Ming-Na Wen in AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/index.php?p=article&article=1342) plays a role that doesn't rely on her being Asian. In contrast, The Big Bang Theory's Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) plays to Indian stereotypes, sometimes even with borderline derogatory parody.

[GeneChing]

I eschew politics here for the most part, but sometimes they are just unavoidable. :rolleyes:

I wonder if this will come back into play when this new movie comes out because Pence should still be in office then.


Mike Pence Argued In An Op-Ed That Disney's "Mulan" Was Liberal Propaganda (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/andrewkaczynski/mister-ill-make-a-man-out-of-you#.jkVkvxmKj)
"Obviously, this is Walt Disney's attempt to add childhood expectation to the cultural debate over the role of women in the military," Pence wrote. Obviously.
Andrew Kaczynski
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on July 17, 2016, at 2:48 p.m. ET

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2016-07/19/16/asset/buzzfeed-prod-fastlane01/sub-buzz-18527-1468961445-1.jpg
Jen Lewis/BuzzFeed

When Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence was a talk radio show host in Indiana, he wrote an op-ed declaring the film Mulan was an attempt by some "mischievous liberal" at Disney to influence the debate over women in the military.

The 1999 op-ed ran on a website for Pence's radio program that was uncovered by BuzzFeed News.

"Despite her delicate features and voice, Disney expects us to believe that Mulan's ingenuity and courage were enough to carry her to military success on an equal basis with her cloddish cohorts," wrote Pence. "Obviously, this is Walt Disney's attempt to add childhood expectation to the cultural debate over the role of women in the military."

"I suspect that some mischievous liberal at Disney assumes that Mulan's story will cause a quiet change in the next generation's attitude about women in combat and they just might be right," Pence continued. "(Just think about how often we think of Bambi every time the subject of deer hunting comes into the mainstream media debate.)"

Disney's film is based on the 6th century Ballad of Mulan.

Pence argues Mulan's romance with a superior officer proved women cannot serve in the military.

"It is instructive that even in the Disney film, young Ms. Mulan falls in love with her superior officer! Me thinks the politically correct Disney types completely missed the irony of this part of the story," writes Pence. "They likely added it because it added realism with which the viewer could identify with the characters. You see, now stay with me on this, many young men find many young women to be attractive sexually. Many young women find many young men to be attractive sexually. Put them together, in close quarters, for long periods of time, and things will get interesting. Just like they eventually did for young Mulan. Moral of story: women in military, bad idea."

Here's the full text and a picture of the column on the site:


Just spent a memorable Fathers Day, like so many other all American Hoosier dads, with my kids at the new Disney film entitled, "Mulan". For those who have not yet been victimized by the McDonald's induced hysteria over this film, Mulan is a fictional account of a delicate girl of the same name who surreptitiously takes her fathers place in the Chinese army in one of their ancient wars against the Huns. Despite her delicate features and voice, Disney expects us to believe that Mulan's ingenuity and courage were enough to carry her to military success on an equal basis with her cloddish cohorts. Obviously, this is Walt Disney's attempt to add childhood expectation to the cultural debate over the role of women in the military. I suspect that some mischievous liberal at Disney assumes that Mulan's story will cause a quiet change in the next generation's attitude about women in combat and they just might be right. (Just think about how often we think of Bambi every time the subject of deer hunting comes into the mainstream media debate.)

The only problem with this liberal hope is the reality which intrudes on the Disney ideal from the mornings headlines. From the original "Tailhook" scandal involving scores of high ranking navy fighter pilots who molested subordinate women to the latest travesty at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, the hard truth of our experiment with gender integration is that is has been an almost complete disaster for the military and for many of the individual women involved. When Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer was appointed to investigate the Aberdeen mess, he shocked the public with the revelation that young, nubile, 18 year old men and women were actually being HOUSED together during basic training. Whatever bone head came up with this idea should be run out of this man's Army before sundown. Housing, in close quarters, young men and women (in some cases married to non-military personnel) at the height of their physical and sexual potential is the height of stupidity. It is instructive that even in the Disney film, young Ms. Mulan falls in love with her superior officer! Me thinks the politically correct Disney types completely missed the irony of this part of the story. They likely added it because it added realism with which the viewer could identify with the characters. You see, now stay with me on this, many young men find many young women to be attractive sexually. Many young women find many young men to be attractive sexually. Put them together, in close quarters, for long periods of time, and things will get interesting. Just like they eventually did for young Mulan. Moral of story: women in military, bad idea.

[GeneChing]

i'm a little tardy with this one, but i just got back from vacation.


Production Begins on Disney’s Live-Action Mulan Movie! (http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/966157-production-begins-on-disneys-live-action-mulan-movie)
BY CHRISTIAN LONG ON AUGUST 13, 2018

http://cdn1-www.comingsoon.net/assets/uploads/gallery/disneys-mulan/mulan-dis.jpg

Disney announced today that production on their live-action Mulan has begun. Based on the 1998 animated feature of the same name, the film will shoot on locations in New Zealand and China and will open in U.S. theaters on March 27, 2020.

Liu Yifei (The Forbidden Kingdom, Once Upon a Time) was cast as Hua Mulan following a year-long global casting search. Joining her in the film are: Donnie Yen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story); Jason Scott Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny); Yoson An (The Meg); Utkarsh Ambudkar (Pitch Perfect); Ron Yuan (Marco Polo); Tzi Ma (Arrival); Rosalind Chao (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine); Cheng Pei-Pei (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon); Nelson Lee; Chum Ehelepola; with Gong Li (Memoirs of a Geisha, Raise the Red Lantern) and Jet Li (Shaolin Temple, Lethal Weapon 4).

Mulan is the epic adventure of a fearless young woman who masquerades as a man in order to fight Northern Invaders attacking China. The eldest daughter of an honored warrior, Hua Mulan is spirited, determined and quick on her feet. When the Emperor issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army, she steps in to take the place of her ailing father as Hua Jun, becoming one of China’s greatest warriors ever.

Mulan is directed by Niki Caro (Whale Rider, McFarland USA) from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (Jurassic World, In the Heart of the Sea) and Elizabeth Martin & Lauren Hynek based on the narrative poem “The Ballad of Mulan.” The producers are Jason T. Reed (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Chris Bender (A History of Violence) and Jake Weiner (Criminal) with Barrie M. Osborne (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Monster Hunt) and Tim Coddington (Crazy Rich Asians) serving as executive producers.

Disney’s animated feature, which was released in 1998, starred Ming-Na Wen, Miguel Ferrer and Eddie Murphy and was nominated for an Oscar and two Golden Globe® Awards.

[GeneChing]

MN native Doua Moua lands role in live-action Mulan (https://www.kare11.com/article/news/mn-native-doua-moua-lands-role-in-live-action-mulan/89-587051450)
Minnesota native Doua Moua will star as Chien Po in Disney's live-action Mulan.
Author: Heidi Wigdahl
Published: 5:45 PM CDT August 23, 2018
Updated: 8:10 PM CDT August 23, 2018

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It's been 20 years since we first met Mulan on the big screen. The 1998 Disney animated film is now getting the live-action treatment and one of the stars is from Minnesota.

It was announced last week that Doua Moua had landed the role of Chien Po—one of Mulan's soldier friends. The story of Mulan follows a young woman who disguises herself as a man in order to take her father's place in the army.

Moua now lives in Los Angeles but he grew up in St. Paul. His family immigrated to St. Paul in 1987 from Thailand.

Moua spoke to KARE 11 via FaceTime from New Zealand. He's been training since June and just started shooting this week.

"Fans should be expecting this film to be a little bit different from the recent live-action Disney movies," Moua said. "In China there were a lot of different stories that were told of Mulan. So the writers basically kind of read and did research to take all these elements and created this world but still have bits and parts to pay homage back to the original animated film."

About his character, Chien Po, Moua said, "It has some similar characteristics of the same animation but with a little twist from me. And the amazing writers wrote an amazing role for me."


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dkfgfc-X0AEgJOU.jpg
View image on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Disney/status/1029037872215732224/photo/1)

Disney
✔
@Disney
Production has begun on live-action #Mulan!

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The upcoming movie comes at a time when Crazy Rich Asians is a box office hit. The romantic comedy is the first major Hollywood film set in the present day to feature a majority Asian cast in 25 years.

"There's a lack of Asian representation in the industry. So this is such an amazing time and moment for the Asian-American community to show Hollywood or the entertainment industry that... we are viable, and we come in packs, and we come as a community to support films that we want to tell," Moua said.

While Moua has found success, (like for his role as Spider in Clint Eastwood's 2008 film Gran Torino) he'd like to see more changes.

"We need to start showing that we need to be more diverse within the Asian community in the entertainment world, as well. And not be so, 'This role is for a... Chinese person, then it needs to be only for a Chinese actor,'" Moua said.

Moua is also a screenwriter. His script "The Harvest" is a 2017 Academy Nicholl semi-finalist. He plans on filming the movie in Minnesota some day.

"There are some projects that you read and you go audition for and it's amazing. But again, there's just one in a million scripts that are like that," Moua said. "It really depends on us as Asian-Americans to write for Asian-Americans and not be afraid of it."

When talking about Mulan, Moua said, "The shots so far look amazing and beautiful. So expect to be amazed and come in and watch it from an open perspective because you'll be amazed from it."

Mulan is scheduled to be released in U.S. theaters on March 27, 2020.

I never saw Gran Torino. Anyone?

[GeneChing]

https://i0.wp.com/thedisinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/IMG_3246.jpg?resize=1130%2C580&ssl=1

EXCLUSIVE: Disney’s MULAN Remake To Feature Music; Mushu To Appear (https://thedisinsider.com/2018/09/06/exclusive-disneys-mulan-remake-to-feature-music-mushu-to-appear/)
Fans rejoice!
By Skyler Shuler On Sep 6, 2018

Disney’s live-action adaptation of Mulan is currently in production. Shooting in both New Zealand and China. Starring Liu Yifei, who will be taking on the titular role of Mulan. The film has caused a little stir from fans regarding some aspects of the film. Well we hopefully have some news that may ease your thoughts.

We have learned from a source working on the project that the film will indeed feature some of the music from the 1998 animated classic. Earlier this year director Niki Caro was asked by Moviefone if the rumor that songs wouldn’t appear in the film is true and Caro’s response was “Yes, from what I understand, no songs right now, much to the horror of my children.” The film was originally expected to start production earlier this year, so it is not known if production was delayed due to working the music in.

We also learned from the source that Mulan’s fire breathing sidekick Mushu will also appear in the film.

Mulan is the epic adventure of a fearless young woman who masquerades as a man in order to fight Northern Invaders attacking China. The eldest daughter of an honored warrior, Hua Mulan is spirited, determined and quick on her feet. When the Emperor issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army, she steps in to take the place of her ailing father as Hua Jun, becoming one of China’s greatest warriors ever.

Directed by Niki Caro (The Zookeepers Wife) the film also stars Donnie Yen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story); Jason Scott Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny); Yoson An (The Meg); Utkarsh Ambudkar (Pitch Perfect); Ron Yuan (Marco Polo); Tzi Ma (Arrival); Rosalind Chao (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine); Cheng Pei-Pei (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon); Nelson Lee; Chum Ehelepola; with Gong Li (Memoirs of a Geisha, Raise the Red Lantern) and Jet Li (Shaolin Temple, Lethal Weapon 4).

Disney’s live-action remakes have grossed over $4.5 billion at the worldwide box so far, and will look to continue that success with Mulan, and remakes of Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King, Sword In The Stone, Lady In The Tramp, Peter Pan, And The Little Mermaid all in active production and/or development.

Disney’s Mulan will hit theaters on March 27, 2020.

Mushu had my favorite line in the original movie:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b1/99/b3/b199b33c1c9ffab66eebf1159d181f4c.gif

Although my second fav line goes to the Hun henchman:
https://78.media.tumblr.com/0ed6a0057e567fbfcfe0e6878d598a5d/tumblr_ns52djzCEK1rs3f7jo1_400.gif

[GeneChing]

Why Jet Li said yes to Mulan (https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/why-jet-li-said-yes-to-mulan)

https://www.straitstimes.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_pictrure_780x520_/public/articles/2018/10/24/nm-jetli-2410.jpg?itok=C0i934CG&timestamp=1540331910
In April, Mulan's producers announced that Jet Li would be joining the cast, alongside stellar names such as Donnie Yen and Gong Li. PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER
PUBLISHED OCT 24, 2018, 5:00 AM SGT

SHANGHAI - Martial arts hero Jet Li had to concede defeat after a verbal duel with his daughter.

The 15-year-old had asked him why he parried away approaches from Disney to act in the live-action reboot of 1998 animated movie Mulan.

She reasoned his stature could give an extra lift to the new film that showcased Chinese culture.

In a recent interview with Chinese talk-show host Chen Luyu, Li said he finally threw in the towel when his daughter found the weakest spot in his armour.

She asked the 55-year-old to star in the movie - just for her, according to Tencent's QQ social platform. And which daddy could say no to his child's sweet request?

In April, Mulan's producers announced that Li would be joining the cast, alongside stellar names such as Donnie Yen and Gong Li.

The movie is slated to hit screens in 2020.

On the programme called A Date With Luyu, Li looked healthy, a great relief for fans after photographs of him looking sick and frail had popped up earlier this year and stoked worries.

Li had said previously that he suffered from hyperthyroidism and spinal problems from stuntwork injuries.

On the show, Li also revealed why he said no to a role in The Matrix science-fiction sequels in the early 2000s.

He recalled: "I realised the Americans wanted me to film for three months, but be with the crew for nine.

"And for six months, they wanted to record and copy all my moves into a digital library. By the end of the recording, the right to these moves would go to them.

"I was thinking: I've been training my entire life. And we martial artists could grow only older.

"Yet, they could own (my moves), as an intellectual property, forever. So I said I couldn't do that."

Posted about Jet & the Matrix elsewhere (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70161-The-Matrix-Reboot&p=1311149#post1311149) already.

[GeneChing]

Jan 1, 2019 Ξ
Ming Na Wen Calls Out Netflix for Oversight (https://asamnews.com/2019/01/01/ming-na-wen-calls-out-netflix-for-oversight/)
posted by Randall

https://asamnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Mulan.png

Apparently Netflix doesn’t think Asian Americans played any significant role in the Disney animated classic, Mulan.

An official description from the streaming site leaves out any mention of any Asian American involved in the production-including lead voices Ming Na Wen, who played the voice of Mulan, and B.D. Wong, who voiced Li Shang, Mulan’s love interest and son of General Li.

Mulan fan Dave Sanchez blasted Neflix for the omission and Wen didn’t hesitate to jump on board.


Yeah, that’s EFF-ed up, @netflix!

I also believe another AsianAm lead voice should also be on the credit. #bdwong How about all the #Mulan fans out there tweet @netflix about this major oversight? Thanks! 💋👍 https://t.co/xRzcGL9qqq— Ming-Na Wen (@MingNa) January 1, 2019

According to Comicbook.com, Netflix has not yet responded to her New Year’s Eve tweet, but plenty of fans already have.


Wtf?????? But but but the main charact…the hero of the stor…the…what??? I don’t. That doesn’t compute in the fabric of the universe.— Daniel Drew (@JediTimeSaiyan) January 1, 2019

DUDE, Netflix. She IS Mulan. Since when is the lead characters’ voice actor not listed? (I mean i don’t know anything about cast listings and why they are like they are but COME ON).— Sunshine and Lemons 🍋🌞 (@MaybeMander) January 1, 2019

pic.twitter.com/RsDZzBOTyo— Sam (@WSamNipat) January 1, 2019

Note that this has been fixed already:

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/537173897553014785/4MVfwmWA_400x400.jpeg
Ming-Na Wen
‏
Verified account (https://twitter.com/MingNa/status/1080648066560974848)

@MingNa
Follow Follow @MingNa
More Ming-Na Wen Retweeted Netflix US
Great of you, @netflix, for the quick response and fix. 👏👍
Appreciate your attention.
-😘Mulan

Thank you to all the fans of #Mulan and my Mingalings for your tweets & RTs. You all rock!
❤️💕❤️💕💋💋

Happy New Year!🎉🎉Ming-Na Wen added,

Netflix US
Verified account

@netflix
Replying to @MingNa
Thank you and @kroqkom so much for pointing this out to us!! It’s now been fixed ❤️ you and @BD_WONG are legends!

THREADS:
Mulan - Live-Action Disney project (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53202-Mulan)

[GeneChing]

Donnie Yen on How Kong Kong Action Cinema Can Reclaim Its Glory (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/donnie-yen-how-kong-kong-action-cinema-can-reclaim-glory-1210649)
9:40 PM PDT 5/14/2019 by Karen Chu

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2019/05/canneshongkongspotlight.jpg
COURTESY OF MANDARIN MOTION PICTURES

"Being able to play the same character in four films is a rare opportunity," says Donnie Yen of his role in 'Ip Man 4.'

As his career-defining 'Ip Man' franchise comes to a close, the Hong Kong superstar — who will be featured in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of 'Mulan' — also discusses improving onscreen Asian representation: "I hope we can make more breakthroughs."
Since taking up the mantle of Wing Chun grandmaster in Ip Man 4, Donnie Yen has become increasingly synonymous with the real-life martial arts legend, who famously trained Bruce Lee.

In the intervening years, Yen became a part of the Star Wars franchise, playing the fan-favorite blind warrior Chirrut Îmwe in spinoff Rogue One, and will be featured in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of Mulan. But it has been the Ip Man franchise that brought him into hand-to-hand combat with Mike Tyson and secured him a place among hard-core kung fu aficionados as one of the great action superstars to come out of Hong Kong.

Yen will reprise the role for the last time in Ip Man 4 — on offer to international buyers at the Marché du Film from Pegasus — which follows the title character as he accompanies his protege Bruce Lee when he relocates to San Francisco in the late 1950s.

Along with Mulan, which co-stars fellow Hong Kong legend Jet Li and Chinese actress Gong Li, Yen will soon appear as a plus-size but highly deadly cop in the Hong Kong action-comedy Enter the Fat Dragon, to be released this year. Yen, 55, spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about craving better representation for Asian actors when he was a teenager, how Hong Kong action cinema can reclaim its former glory and why he has resisted training his own children in martial arts.

You have played the character of Ip Man for more than 10 years now. Would you say that this role has defined your career?

Yes, it has. Being able to play the same character in four films is a rare opportunity, and I have to thank the fans of the films for their appreciation. The role has brought me more work and more fans, given me fame and fortune and made me realize that an actor’s life is an unceasing pursuit of bringing to life a character and becoming inseparable from that character in people’s minds.

Fans petitioned online for Disney not to whitewash this remake of Mulan. How did you feel watching that movement unfold? What’s your view on Hollywood’s attempt to embrace diversity in recent years?

I think they should have done this years ago. Since the beginning of time, the world has been diverse. Different ethnicities and cultures have always lived on this Earth. [The pattern of whitewashing ] comes from the fact that Hollywood product has dominated the film industry for decades. And we’ve grown up watching Hollywood films and had been under their influence. For a lot of people, you and me included, when they think of princes and princesses, they’d think of someone with blond hair and white skin. This image has been ingrained in us. But if we think about it, we’d realize that, around the world, Chinese people are quite numerous, too. (Laughs.) So shouldn’t it be time to express these characters and stories with different aesthetics? Something that more people worldwide can share and identify with?

Did you yearn for more onscreen representation for people of Asian descent when you lived in the U.S. during your teenage years?

Certainly. That’s one of the reasons why, growing up during that time, we were all so fascinated by Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee gave us a sense of pride and belonging. We grew up watching Hollywood films and accepting their standards. It was easy to lose track of who we were. When we looked in the mirror, we might wonder why we didn’t look like those onscreen. Of course we also wondered when we’d see something different. But the world is changing, there has been an African American president in the U.S. — that’s something that used to be unimaginable. There are also more and more Chinese actors achieving success on the global stage. As a filmmaker of Chinese descent, I’m very happy and encouraged, and hope we can make even more breakthroughs.

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/2019/05/donnieyen.jpg
JASON LAVERIS/FILMMAGIC

"I feel it’s lacking a bit of spark," says Yen of the current state of action filmmaking in Hong Kong.
Will you be accepting more Hollywood roles for that reason?

Well, it depends, first of all, on whether the subject matter and the character interest me. Then it depends on my schedule, since I want to make more Hong Kong films from now on. I’ve always been a Hong Kong filmmaker; I’ve never left. Hong Kong is my home; my children live here. Now that I have a little bit of influence and pull, I’d like to use that to make more films in Hong Kong.

The film you’re shooting now, Raging Fire, is the first time you’ve worked with Nicholas Tse since you both starred in Dragon Tiger Gate (2006). Can you say anything about the project yet?

I’m very happy to reunite with Nicholas, and also Benny Chan, who was the producer and director of two television series I made in the 1990s. We haven’t worked together for over 20 years. As for the plot, I can’t really comment on it now. But the film is action-packed.

Kung fu and action cinema were at the heart of Hong Kong cinema’s heyday. What is your take on the state of action filmmaking in Hong Kong?

I feel it’s lacking a bit of spark. Hong Kong filmmakers are always talking about bringing glory back to the Hong Kong film industry. But what is that exactly? The world is changing rapidly. It’s no longer the same world it was when we were making action films. Hollywood hadn’t developed the visual vocabulary to shoot action, kung fu and combat scenes in our style at that time. But they are very fluent in this language now. So if we stay where we were, the industry will eventually die out.

You have two kids. Is passing your martial arts skills on to them important to you?

My daughter sings and dances, but she’s not that interested in kung fu. My son is still quite young, so I’d rather he learns martial arts from a teacher. Learning martial arts is serious, rigorous business. I don’t want to have any conflicts, or that kind of sternness, with my kids. I don’t spend enough time with them as it is, so I’d like to have quality time — filled only with smiles — when I do spend time with them.

This story first appeared in The Hollywood Reporter's May 15 daily issue at the Cannes Film Festival.

THREADS
Ip Man 4 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69747-Ip-Man-4)
Cannes (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53853-Cannes)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)
Raging Fire (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71246-Raging-Fire)

[GeneChing]

Disney's going to go for it with this - that major crossover that captures both sides of the Pacific.


Mulan Remake Star Says It's Disney's Most Expensive Movie Ever (https://screenrant.com/mulan-movie-budget-disney-expensive/)
BY ROBIN BURKS – ON MAY 20, 2019 IN MOVIE NEWS

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One of the stars of Disney's Mulan live-action remake said the film is the most expensive movie Disney has ever made. The film takes inspiration from 1998's animated Mulan, which followed the adventures of Hua Mulan, a legendary Chinese warrior from the Northern and Southern dynasties period of China, who was also a woman. In that story, Mulan disguises herself as a man to take her father's place in the army.

Although Disney initially had planned as far back as 2010 to remake Mulan as a live-action movie, it wasn't until 2015 that the project got off the ground and began development. There was some controversy surrounding what was reportedly the original script, which featured a white male lead, as well as brought in the white savior trope. However, Disney decided to rewrite it, promising that not only would Mulan be the star of the film, but that Chinese actors would play all primary characters in the movie. Eventually, the company hired female director, Niki Caro, and cast star Liu Yifei in the title role. Other actors tied to the project are Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Tzi Ma, Yosan An and Jet Li.

Disney has proven that it is invested in the film. According to Gavin Feng, who tracks Chinese box office and film news, actress Gong Li, who will portray a villain in the live-action Mulan, revealed the remake is Disney's most expensive movie ever with a budget of over $300 million. It takes a lot of money to put together a film of this scope, especially considering the sweeping narrative of Mulan.


View image on Twitter (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D66hsPdV4AAf6bb.jpg)
View image on Twitter (https://twitter.com/gavinfeng97/status/1130018663631917056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5 Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1130018663631917056&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fscreenrant.com%2Fmulan-movie-budget-disney-expensive%2F)

Gavin Feng
@gavinfeng97
Chinese actress Li Gong claimed that Disney's live-action film Mulan has the biggest budget ever for the studio with $300 million-plus. #Mulan

(via https://weibo.com/6403553546/HuEOX73gg?filter=all&type=comment#_rnd1558251994302 …)

289
12:53 AM - May 19, 2019
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Disney released the first look at Mulan in 2018, featuring a photo of Mulan with a sword, ready to fight. Disney has released enough details that it seems the company has taken cues from the original Chinese legend about Mulan and using that as its basis for the live-action film. Mulan has already separated itself from its animated counterpart in that it will not be a musical, but it will incorporate some of the music from the animated film into various scenes.

ADVERTISING

Although many often overlook the animated version of Mulan, it did reasonably well at the box office and received a mostly positive critical reception. Although many fans criticize Disney for the sheer number of live-action remakes it has already done and has in the works, fans are anxious to see the live-action Mulan when it hits theaters in 2020. Hopefully with such a large budget, Mulan will able to do both the Disney animated version and the original legend justice.

[GeneChing]

Downey is obvious for Endgame (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71016-Avengers-Endgame) et.al. Wen is clearly more of the Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project) play.


Marvel's Robert Downey Jr., Ming-Na Wen and Jon Favreau become Disney Legends (https://www.cnet.com/news/marvels-robert-downey-jr-ming-na-wen-and-jon-favreau-become-disney-legends/)
Disney says the three have been given the "highest honor" it can bestow.
BY CORINNE REICHERT
MAY 16, 2019 11:59 AM PDT

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Robert Downey Jr. has been named a Disney Legend for his role as Iron Man.
Photo by The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images

Disney said Thursday that Marvel Cinematic Universe members Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau and Ming-Na Wen will be made Disney Legends.

Disney names a series of legends each year in recognition of their contributions to the company.

Downey is being recognized for his role as Tony Stark -- which he almost didn't get -- throughout the Marvel movies, from 2008's Iron Man to Avengers: Endgame, and in supporting roles in Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Ming-Na Wen was the voice of Mulan in the 1996 animated film and in subsequent video games, TV shows and movies, including the famous Disney princess scene in Wreck It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet. She now plays Agent Melinda May, or the Cavalry, on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Favreau served as executive producer on the three Iron Man movies, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as played Happy Hogan in the Marvel movies.

"The Disney Legends Award is the highest honor we can bestow," Disney CEO Bob Iger said at the D23 Expo. "It's a recognition of talent, a celebration of achievement, and an expression of profound gratitude to the remarkable men and women who have made an indelible mark on our company and our creative legacy."

Also joining the 2019 crop of Disney Legends are Darth Vader actor James Earl Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean composer Hans Zimmer; Executive Vice President of Imagineering Wing Chao, Fantasmic! creator Barnette Ricci, Descendants director and High School Musical producer Kenny Ortega, Hocus Pocus' Bette Midler, ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer, and ESPN and ABC host Robin Roberts.

Already on the list are 289 other Disney stalwarts, including Pixar co-founder Steve Jobs; Marvel Universe co-creator Stan Lee; Star Wars and Indiana Jones creator George Lucas; Pirates of the Caribbean's Johnny Depp; Imagineer and artist Mary Blair; prolific Disney princess movie composer Alan Menken; Star Wars' Carrie Fisher; the original Marry Poppins, Julie Andrews; Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel; Paige O'Hara, the voice of Belle; Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Tiana; Tim Allen, the voice of Buzz Lightyear; Lea Salonga, who provided the singing voice of Jasmine and Mulan; Billy Crystal and John Goodman of Monsters Inc.; and the original Parent Trap star Hayley Mills.

[GeneChing]

EXCLUSIVE: Phoenix Possibly Replacing Mushu in ‘Mulan’; Cast Will Not Sing Classic Songs (https://thedisinsider.com/2019/06/29/exclusive-phoenix-possibly-replacing-mushu-in-mulan-cast-will-not-sing-classic-songs/)
DISNEY LIVE-ACTION
By Jessenika Colon Last updated Jun 30, 2019

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The DisInsider has exclusively learned new details about Mulan‘s live-action adaptation – which is currently in post-production. We reported several months back that the film will feature some of the music from the animated classic and that Mushu would be appearing, but Disney has decided to go in a new direction regarding those decisions.

A source close to us that has seen the film reports that a phoenix replaced Mulan’s beloved sidekick Mushu, and that while music from the animated film will be included in the remake, the songs will not be sung by the cast as the music is just instrumentals. As time progresses, Disney will very likely use test screenings to gauge what changes – if any – need to be made via reshoots and post-production.



The DisInsider
@TheDisInsider
Here is something that may officially confirm our story! Look at the sweaters the cast is wearing! https://twitter.com/thedisinsider/status/1145009087077240833 …

View image on Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheDisInsider/status/1145060562717429760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5 Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1145060562717429760&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthedisinsider.com%2F2019%2F0 6%2F29%2Fexclusive-phoenix-possibly-replacing-mushu-in-mulan-cast-will-not-sing-classic-songs%2F)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D-QSgkzVUAAt8md?format=jpg&name=360x360

The DisInsider
@TheDisInsider
EXCLUSIVE: Phoenix Possibly Replacing Mushu In ‘Mulan’ - Cast Will Not Sing Classic Songs http://thedisinsider.com/2019/06/29/exclusive-phoenix-possibly-replacing-mushu-in-mulan-cast-will-not-sing-classic-songs/ …

147
1:04 PM - Jun 29, 2019
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Mulan is the epic adventure of a fearless young woman who masquerades as a man in order to fight Northern Invaders attacking China. The eldest daughter of an honored warrior, Hua Mulan is spirited, determined and quick on her feet. When the Emperor issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army, she steps in to take the place of her ailing father as Hua Jun, becoming one of China’s greatest warriors ever.

Directed by Niki Caro, Mulan will star Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Ron Yuan, Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao, Cheng Pei-Pei, Nelson Lee, Chum Ehelepola, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, and Gong Li.

The film hits theaters March 27th, 2020.

Did this report just snub Crystal in the cast list? :eek:

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01ON04GCwKs

[GeneChing]

Mulan & Cosplay? READ Mimi Chan on Kung Fu and Cosplay (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1495) by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/4397_20192905Mimi_cosplay-tips.jpg

THREADS
Mulan - Live-Action Disney project (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640)
Comic Cons (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70242)
Cosplay (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?65633)

[GeneChing]

Never mind all the previous China takes (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53202-Mulan). It's an old legend, after all. :rolleyes:


Mulan: Disney aims to win over China with second take on the legend (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-48904677)
By Yvette Tan & Heather Chen
BBC News
11 July 2019

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DISNEY
China now has its first real-life Disney princess

There won't be songs or talking dragons, and the film's antagonist will be a Chinese sorceress, not an evil leader of the Hun army - but Mulan is making her return to the big screen.

This week Disney released a teaser trailer for the live-action remake of its 1998 classic, a story based on a legendary female warrior who disguises herself as a man to fight in place of her ailing father in China's imperial army.

It joins a string of Disney hits from the 90s being revived for the 21st Century, including Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.

The animated Mulan flopped in its birthplace when it was released more than two decades ago, but this time Disney is pulling out all stops to win China over with its version of their heroine.

Let's get down to business

When the Disney original first aired, China was not a major market for Disney. Twenty years on, China is the second-biggest movie market in the world.

Around 70% of Hollywood studios' revenue are now generated overseas, compared with around 30% two decades ago. And Chinese audiences today are able to add millions to box office takings.

"Chinese takings can make or break a movie," said writer and cultural analyst Xueting Christine Ni.

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DISNEY
The new Hua Mulan is looking to slay China's box office

And Disney knows this - which is why its spending $300m (£240m) on the film, according to one of its stars, Gong Li.

"Disney is aggressively targeting China," Stanley Rosen, a professor in political science from the University of Southern California, told the BBC.

Recent Disney offerings, like Toy Story 4, failed to see Chinese box office success. In contrast, Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Studios, which split from Disney in 2016, had a huge hit among Chinese audiences with its Kung Fu Panda instalment.

For that film, says Prof Rosen, "they spent a lot of time in China, investing efforts in researching pandas and talking to experts".

"Chinese audiences are clearly more sophisticated now so if Disney wants to win them back, they have to nail the cultural aspects of Mulan."

That means the new movie can't be a play-by-play of the old one.

"[The Disney original] was trying so hard to be Chinese, but in a stereotypical way - there's lanterns, fireworks.. they even stuck a panda in there. The humour, the pacing the relationships, are either wholly American, or what America imagines China would be like," Ms Ni told the BBC.

In one scene for example, the emperor is seen bowing to Mulan. It would be unthinkable for the emperor, who was seen as a god-like figure in China at the time, to bow to anyone.

Making it right

Casting was always going to be critical for this film.

Disney banished early fears of "whitewashing" - there were wholly unfounded rumours she was to be played by Jennifer Lawrence - by casting Chinese American actress Liu Yifei in the lead role.

It then upped the show's star power by featuring martial arts legend Jet Li as the Chinese emperor and A-list superstar Gong Li as a villainous sorceress - huge names in China who have also made it big in Western cinema.

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GETTY IMAGES

Will Chinese star power aid Disney's quest in winning over mainland audiences?

But casting is "simply one element of better representation and inclusivity in Disney films", said cultural expert Rebecca-Anne Rozario, a professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

So there are other factors that Disney will have to include in order to make the film a success.

Mulan is a national heroine in ancient Chinese legend. Legends of her date back to the Northern Wei dynasty, as early as around 380AD. Think less Disney princess, more Chinese Joan-of-Arc.

So the new film script went back to the original 6th Century source material, the Ballad of Mulan, for inspiration. It was also filmed partly in China, and the female-centred story also has a female director in Niki Caro.

"[From the] tone of the [new] trailer, [it looks] much closer to the original legend than the 1998 animation and therefore closer to Hua Mulan as the Chinese know her - the brave young woman who upholds her duty to state and family," said Ms Ni.

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GETTY IMAGES
A Chinese depiction of Mulan from the late 19th Century

"I think this time round, the live action will have a much better chance of winning over Chinese audiences."

Who is that girl I see?

The highly anticipated remake has inevitably met some criticism.

"Where is the singing?" complained one disgruntled fan on Facebook. "This isn't the Mulan I remember if we don't hear the songs we grew up with."

Others mourned the absence of wise-cracking dragon Mushu.

"We know Disney is changing a lot of things and dropping many of the original characters but Mushu was hilarious," one said.

The heroine's lucky cricket and sassy grandmother don't feature either. In their place is Mulan's new and younger sister.

And some eagle-eyed people spotted historical inaccuracies in the trailer. Mulan is seen living in a tulou hut, a traditional style of roundhouse. But those are from Fujian, more than 1,000km from Henan, the northern province where Mulan was said to have originally hailed from and were built centuries after her era.

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DISNEY
Mulan's sidekicks sadly won't make it to the 2020 release

But there's been plenty of positive reaction too. People on Chinese social media have praised Liu Yifei's debut as Mulan. An online poll on Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo also found that over 115,000 users were "satisfied" with what they knew of the film so far.

"I would take inaccurate huts over smart mouthed dragons any day," said one person on Weibo.

"China finally has its own Disney princess, which no-one can lay claim on," wrote another.

Another person, who said she did not relate to the original animated film growing up, shared her newfound excitement.

"Hua Mulan was the heroine who graced our storybooks in school. I'm happy that the trailer is setting her story up as more of a Chinese martial arts epic rather than an American cartoon."

But high praise came from the voice of the "original" Mulan, Ming-Na Wen, who took to Twitter to praise Liu's performance.


Skip Twitter post by @MingNa

Ming-Na Wen
✔
@MingNa
EPIC!!! Excited to see this #Mulan. Love seeing my friends @rosalindchao & @tzima8 as her parents. #YifeiLiu looks amazing as the warrior! 👍👏😘 https://twitter.com/disneysmulan/status/1147898346268348417 …

Mulan
✔
@DisneysMulan
It is my duty to fight. Disney’s #Mulan is in theaters March 27, 2020.

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The full film is scheduled for release in March next year. Disney would not give us any further details on it for now, but said more information would come out as the release date approached.

There are suggestions some of the classic songs from the animated movie will crop up in some form, but that may end up being a secondary issue for Chinese Mulan fans.

As one Weibo user put it: "China's Mulan is back."

[GeneChing]

JULY 11, 2019 12:19AM PT
China Loves New ‘Mulan’ Trailer, Except Its Historical Inaccuracies (https://variety.com/2019/film/news/mulan-disney-crystal-liu-yifei-mushu-china-1203264522/)
By REBECCA DAVIS

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/mulan-3.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
CREDIT: COURTESY OF YOUTUBE

The internet in China has exploded with excitement over Disney’s viral new “Mulan” trailer, but some have bemoaned the glaring historical and geographical inaccuracies in the short clip, calling the mashup of unrelated Chinese-looking elements disrespectful.

Most on social media were thrilled to catch their first glimpse of mainland-born Crystal Liu Yifei in the titular role. “This is the Hua Mulan of my dreams!” read one of the top comments on Disney’s official page on the Twitter-like Weibo platform, where the hashtag “Hua Mulan” has already been viewed 1.5 billion times and the hashtag “Mulan Trailer” 1.2 billion times just two days after its release. “I watched this repeatedly for an hour,” one user wrote. “When the film comes out, I’m going to make the box office explode!”

The trailer even spawned a new meme of Mulan’s exaggerated betrothal makeup, with people posting photos of themselves done up in her fever-red cheeks and yellow forehead paint.

But the general excitement has been tempered by some serious criticism. The original Mulan tale comes from a ballad about a girl born in northern China during the Northern and Southern dynasties period, around the 5th century A.D. The time period and location are key to the story, as her journey kicks off because of the forced conscription to fight invaders threatening the northern border.

Yet the Disney trailer shows Mulan living in a round “tulou” house, a traditional communal living structure of the Hakka people unique to coastal, southern Fujian province that became widespread in the much later Ming dynasty — more than a thousand years later.

“Disney shouldn’t be so careless and just think that because tulou are beautiful, they can make Mulan live in one. She’s not Fujianese!” wrote one detractor who wondered how Mulan would manage to make it north to fight the Huns, adding: “I guess this Mulan has to take the subway out to join the army?”

Another PhD student expressed a similar sentiment in a video that has itself gone viral, racking up some 8 million views in two days. “This film is just trying to ingratiate itself to Western audiences. It’s like they thought, oh, this element is really Chinese, it’s very Oriental, so I’m going to shove it into the film to make everyone feel this is a very ‘Chinese’ film,” he said.

“This mess of mixing unrelated Oriental elements is really disrespectful of non-Western cultures and audiences,” he added. “This is not about [the producers] truly appreciating elements of a culture that is different from Hollywood’s, but using them to create something that [Americans] find comfortable and appealing.”

Such comments don’t appear to have dampened China’s overall anticipation of what many online are calling “China’s Disney princess.” The new poster, shot by the very popular Chinese fashion photographer and visual artist Chen Man, was also embraced with enormous enthusiasm, with numerous commenters saying that seeing it actually made them cry. “I don’t know why I cried, but seeing it makes me so emotionally touched and inspired!” one wrote in a common refrain.

There was quite a bit of bafflement and head-smacking in China when Liu was first cast as the title character, with many taking to social media to lambaste her acting chops — even going so far as to call her “box office poison.” But most agree that, talent or English-speaking abilities aside, her look “is definitely the one most suitable to the Chinese conception of classical Chinese beauty,” as one user put it.

Disappointment that there appears to be no sign of the beloved Mushu character also abounded. “He would have been very cute in live-action, and it’s not like Disney doesn’t have the ability to create him — why didn’t they do it?” one user wrote in a common complaint. The hashtag “There’s no Mushu dragon in Mulan” has been viewed more than 310 million times.

The reactions to “Mulan” have been much more positive than those to Disney’s decision to cast black actress Halle Bailey as Ariel in its upcoming live-action “The Little Mermaid.” Major Chinese newspaper The Global Times referred to her as “colored,” while others on social media expressed outrage and other racist sentiments — which bodes poorly for the movie’s prospects in the world’s second-largest film market.

Disney’s “The Lion King” premieres in China on Friday. The studio’s live-action versions of classic films have seen middling box office results in China so far this year, with “Aladdin” earning $53.5 million in May and “Dumbo” a mere $21.9 million in March.

I'm copying this from the Mulan - Live-Action Disney project (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project) thread to our general Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53202-Mulan) thread because I'm adding this list of past Mulan films in response to the lack of Mushu issue.

Hua Mulan Joins the Army (1927)
Mulan Joins the Army (1928)
Mulan Joins the Army (1939)
Lady General Hua Mu-lan (1964)
Saga of Mulan (1994)
Mulan (2009)

[GeneChing]

I went to San Diego Comic-con last month and saw this at the WETA booth.

https://scontent-sjc3-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/d3755929d75ebfef25f7401cf60a5ffd/5DE71AAB/t51.2885-15/e35/s1080x1080/66634660_186164495712984_8692806720943276117_n.jpg ?_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.cdninstagram.com
https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/67168600_10214452801975694_1209801264041295872_n.j pg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_oc=AQmw4jsagz5xYmQFKGKz8I1Y9QVjt7yQq6z-6brXt0yRvOKOIRzl4qZHYLMksjuzEuLyblbqjW4W1k0PPUTfxf JS&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=edb45561b45ec765ef241cd3e98ddcee&oe=5DE33196
https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/67200504_10214452814536008_5177128070787629056_n.j pg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_oc=AQnkQpH8V_mUCxFOrdB07HJUsgazko9qYhsjQOa6ivr 0tDaMK6QxzrQPC7aBQuZzamv4KfnVU_PEla1n0p9Nof1-&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=c2f3722c2b0be5466b5f16d1457d3aaa&oe=5DD61D73


THREADS
Comic Cons (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70242-Comic-Cons)
Mulan - Live Action (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)

[@PLUGO]

Disney’s Live-Action Mulan Facing Boycott Over Star’s Hong Kong Comments (https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/08/16/disney-live-action-mulan-boycott-stars-hong-kong-comments/?fbclid=IwAR028iOtEI93mqFumRYz_2jvBwsykwX8jufTHJVr bicmO0bye0tzq8EigQA)
By JAMIE JIRAK


Mulan is another in a long line of animated Disney classics being remade as live-action, and fans have been eager for the upcoming film ever since the first trailer dropped. However, the film’s star, Liu Yifei, is currently under fire for a political post, which is causing people to tweet #BoycottMulan. The actor showed support for the Hong Kong police on the microblogging site Weibo. According to Twitter, “Hong Kong has seen consecutive protests over the government’s proposed extradition bill.”

Yahoo Entertainment explains the bill as follows: “For the past two months, protests have stormed Hong Kong over an extradition bill that would send alleged criminals to China to stand trial. Since 1997, Hong Kong and China have co-existed as ‘one country, two systems,’ and will remain so until 2047, per the colonial British deal. If the bill passes, contextualizes the Guardian, there is potential for Chinese courts to rule with bias.”

Many people have taken to Twitter to accuse Yifei of supporting police brutality.


Disney’s Mulan actress, Liu Yifei, supports police brutality and oppression in Hong Kong.

Liu is a naturalized American citizen. it must be nice. meanwhile she ****es on people fighting for democracy.

retweet please. HK doesn’t get enough support. #BoycottMulan @Disney pic.twitter.com/FpECIdutH2

— sean norton 🌹 (@sdnorton) August 15, 2019


Me taking my imaginary refund after hearing Liu Yifei supports Police brutality#BoycottMulan pic.twitter.com/1o9hkV58vG

— Kevin Bushido (@bushido_kevin) August 16, 2019


#boycottmulan @Disney why does your company support a Chinese actress who openly supports a suppressive regime?

— Mushy (@Mushytaco2016) August 15, 2019
You can see the full Twitter Moment here (https://twitter.com/i/events/1162280496891490306).

As for Disney, this will be another in a long line of live-action adaptations. While some haven't been as profitable as expected, including films like Pete's Dragon, Alice Through The Looking Glass, and Dumbo, most of them have earned huge numbers at the box office. That includes Cinderella ($543 million), Maleficent ($758 million), The Jungle Book ($966 million), Alice in Wonderland ($1,025 billion), and Beauty and the Beast ($1,263 billion).

Disney's newest live-action adaptations, Aladdin and The Lion King, are the latest successes for the studio. Both films have crossed the $1 billion mark this year, and The Lion King’s numbers are still growing. Following Mulan will be The Little Mermaid, which recently cast its Ariel.

Do you think #BoycottMulan will hurt the film at the box office? Do you plan to boycott?

Mulan is currently set to hit theaters on March 27, 2020.

[GeneChing]

Disney’s Live-Action Mulan Facing Boycott Over Star’s Hong Kong Comments (https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/08/16/disney-live-action-mulan-boycott-stars-hong-kong-comments/?fbclid=IwAR028iOtEI93mqFumRYz_2jvBwsykwX8jufTHJVr bicmO0bye0tzq8EigQA)
By JAMIE JIRAK

Ohhh, Jackie's in hot water for HK comments too.

THREADS
Mulan - Live-Action (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)
Hong Kong protests (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23536-Hong-Kong-protests)

[GeneChing]

Yifei really stabbed herself in the foot with this one. :o



In China, Disney's #BoycottMulan Problem May Only Be Growing (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/china-disneys-boycottmulan-problem-may-be-growing-1233417)
3:28 PM PDT 8/20/2019 by Patrick Brzeski , Tatiana Siegel

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2019/07/disneys_live-action_mulan-publicity_still_6-h_2019.jpg
Walt Disney Studios
Crystal Liu in Disney's 'Mulan.'

As the star of its Chinese warrior epic sides with police amid growing pro-democracy protests, the company may be "dragged into" taking sides as a mass sit-in at Hong Kong Disneyland is considered.
On Aug. 14, Crystal Liu, star of Disney's upcoming live-action Mulan, weighed in on Hong Kong's police crackdown of pro-democracy protesters. "I support Hong Kong's police, you can beat me up now," she wrote to her 65 million followers on social media platform Weibo, adding the hashtag "IAlsoSupportTheHongKongPolice," with heart and arm-flexing emojis.

Backlash, and talk of a boycott of Mulan, greeted Liu's post, with many pointing to the various international organizations that have accused the Hong Kong police of brutality and excessive force. And while Disney has chosen to remain silent so far, the problem may not go away any time soon for the studio, whose 10 tentpoles in the past year have earned 12 percent of their $8.85 billion in grosses from China. On a huge film like Avengers: Endgame, which became the all-time box-office champ with $2.8 billion in worldwide ticket sales, China accounted for a stunning 22 percent of that total.

"Disney can't support the protesters because their business in China is too important," notes Stanley Rosen, a professor at USC who specializes in the Chinese entertainment industry. "But they obviously can't be seen as pandering too much to China either, because that could backfire as well, depending on how the situation in Hong Kong unfolds."

The studio's studied silence at the least risks tainting the idealism of its brand and inflaming the international #BoycottMulan campaign. But if Disney instead distances itself from its star's statement, it will almost certainly invoke the ire of China's Communist Party authorities, who view control over Hong Kong as one their most urgent concerns.

A source close to Liu, 31, says she is being unfairly singled out given that other Chinese celebrities have voiced support for Beijing over the Hong Kong protest movement, including the city's own Jackie Chan and Tony Leung Ka-fai. Though protesters bristle at all stars who parrot an autocratic government's talking points, they have an ideal wedge with Liu as the lead of the upcoming global tentpole Mulan — about a young Chinese female fighter of injustice — that Disney will release March 27.

The studio's apparent decision to try to duck the difficult PR dilemma has put it in the awkward spot of aligning its interests with Beijing and the Hong Kong government, both of which seem to be hoping that the protesters will lose their nerve.

And yet, it's not as if Disney CEO Bob Iger hasn't taken a stance on hot-button political topics before. He stepped down from President Trump’s business advisory council in response to the president’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal, calling the decision “a matter of principle.” Iger also said “I rather doubt [Disney] will” continue shooting in Georgia after the state passed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.

The Hong Kong movement's determination not to simply fade away was on display Aug. 18, when an estimated 1.7 million protesters braved heavy rain for a peaceful procession through the heart of the city. Protesters are considering staging a mass sit-in at Hong Kong Disneyland next, possibly as soon as Aug. 24. (Some are concerned that the theme park's location — on a remote corner of Hong Kong's Lantau Island — could leave protestors cornered and vulnerable to mass arrests.)

Should they forge ahead — and should police respond — Disney may not have the luxury of avoiding comment if global newscasts show tear gas wafting over Hong Kong Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. "If things polarize even further in Hong Kong and China resorts to even greater violence to assert its authority, it will become much harder for [Disney] not to get dragged into it," adds Rosen, noting that further comments from Liu could also inflame tensions. "It's not unthinkable that the release date for Mulan could have to be moved beyond March 2020."

At the very least, Beijing's refusal to compromise an inch combined with the protestors' unflagging conviction has left even the most informed observers uncertain of how the standoff could conceivably unwind. Thus, Hong Kong's pro-democracy cause could very well continue to be a major news item come early 2020, when Mulan launches its worldwide marketing campaign — with star Crystal Liu front and center, facing the press gauntlet.

Karen Chu contributed reporting.



THREADS
Mulan - Live-Action (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)
Hong Kong protests (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23536-Hong-Kong-protests)
Chinese Theme Parks (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62642-Chinese-Theme-Parks)

[GeneChing]

Twitter Bans China Accounts for Misinformation Campaign Against 'Mulan' Boycott (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/twitter-bans-accounts-used-by-china-mulan-boycott-hong-kong-protestors-1233176)
8:50 PM PDT 8/19/2019 by Patrick Brzeski

The company deleted nearly 1,000 accounts it said were "deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground."
Facebook and Twitter said Monday that they had deleted a network of fake accounts used by China to sow political discord over Hong Kong's pro-democracy, anti-police brutality protests.

The accounts also were used to share pro-Beijing rhetoric in response to the Hong Kong-initiated boycott of The Walt Disney Co.'s upcoming film Mulan, some of the tweet examples shared by Twitter reveal.

The Mulan boycott was initiated late last week after the film's star, Crystal Liu Yifei, posted a message of support on Chinese social media for the Hong Kong police force. The post ignited a firestorm both within Hong Kong and among pro-democracy sympathizers overseas, given the many accusations by international human rights groups that the police have been using excess force in their confrontations with protesters and the public.

Twitter said Monday that it pulled down 936 troll accounts, many of which pushed conspiracy theories about the Hong Kong protesters and their motivations.

"These accounts were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground," the company said in a statement. Twitter added that it has "reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation."

Many of the deleted accounts claimed to be users based in the United States, in places ranging from New York City and to small towns like Berrien Springs, Mich. Some of the accounts were set up years ago, and slowly amassed followers by tweeting about innocuous pop culture, such as NBC's hit show This Is Us — a common tactic used to cloak misinformation campaigns in credibility.

Other accounts, such as @HKPoliticalNew, were attempting to pose as legitimate Hong Kong news outlets.

Facebook responded to Twitter's move by pulling down 16 pages it said were linked to the same troll operation.

One post highlighted by Twitter’s public safety team read: "We don’t want you radical people in Hong Kong. Just get out of here!"

A recent China-linked Facebook post compared the pro-democracy protestors to ISIS fighters.

Another Twitter post said: "Are these people who smashed the Legco crazy or taking benefits from the bad guys?" (Legco is Hong Kong's legislature, which was briefly occupied by protestors earlier this month.)

Central to Beijing's vast propaganda campaign within Mainland China is the allegation that the protests have been instigated by Western forces allied against China, including the CIA, rather than Hong Kong residents advocating for their own political concerns. China has offered no credible evidence for the claim.

Shortly after the #BoycottMulan hashtag start trending on Twitter last Friday, users tweeting about the campaign began calling attention to accounts they suspected were being directed by the Chinese government.

"You should come to Hong Kong to see the truth, not be misled by unscrupulous Western media and politicians," read one reply to #BoycottMulan from the account @shu_zhiyuan, which has since been removed by Twitter.

The Hong Kong protests began nearly three months ago in response to a bill that would have allowed Hong Kong residents charged a crime to be extradited to mainland China. Nearly 2 million Hong Kong residents took to the streets to contest the bill at the height of the protests in June, believing it would mark the end of the autonomy and rule of law Hong Kong was promised when the territory was handed back to China from Britain in 1997.

After the Hong Kong police responded with heavy-handed tactics — including firing tear gas into public subway stations and using rubber bullets against crowds — the protests have intensified and the movement's demands have morphed into calls for independent investigations of the police and direct democracy. An estimated 1.7 million Hong Kong residents braved pouring rain in Hong Kong on Sunday to join a peaceful procession through the heart of the city — demonstrating that the movement is not fading away as the Beijing and Hong Kong authorities may have hoped.

Liu pulled Disney into the fray last week when she shared an image with her 65 million followers on China's Twitter-like social media service, Weibo, reading: "I support Hong Kong's police, you can beat me up now," followed by, "What a shame for Hong Kong." The image had originally been created by the state-backed People's Daily. Liu added the hashtag "IAlsoSupportTheHongKongPolice" and a heart emoji.

The post was widely praised in China — both by Beijing's vast social media propaganda apparatus and lay patriotic users — but outside the Middle Kingdom it has raised awkward questions about Disney's brand allegiances.

Both Facebook and Twitter, as well as the websites of the BBC, The New York Times and Bloomberg, are banned in China, blocked by the so-called Great Firewall, a complex system of Internet censorship mechanisms.

PATRICK BRZESKI
THRnews@thr.com
@thr


THREADS
Mulan - Live-Action (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)
Hong Kong protests (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23536-Hong-Kong-protests)
Add me on MySpace, Facebook & Twitter (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?42936-Add-me-on-MySpace-Facebook-amp-Twitter)

[GeneChing]

A #SupportMulan campaign kicks off in China after calls in Hong Kong to boycott the Disney film (https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/22/entertainment/china-hong-kong-disney-mulan-intl-hnk-trnd/index.html)
CNN Digital Expansion 2017. James Griffiths
By James Griffiths and Jessie Yeung, CNN
Updated 4:21 AM ET, Thu August 22, 2019

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/190706183604-mulan-live-action-remake-exlarge-169.jpg
Chinese-born actress Liu Yifei, starring in Disney's live action remake of "Mulan" next year, attracted controversy when she criticized ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong (CNN)Disney hasn't always had the easiest time in China, but amid calls to boycott the live-action version of "Mulan" the entertainment giant is getting help from an unlikely ally: Chinese state media.
Last week, Liu Yifei, the Chinese-born actress playing the eponymous role in the remake, waded into the Hong Kong protest controversy by pledging support for the city's police, who anti-government demonstrators accuse of using excessive force to quell unrest.
"I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong," she posted on Weibo, a Twitter-like Chinese social media platform.
Immediately, people began posting #BoycottMulan on Twitter, which is banned in China. Hours later, the hashtag was trending in Hong Kong and the United States. Twitter users accused the actress of supporting police brutality and noted that she's an American citizen.
"Liu is a naturalized American citizen. It must be nice. Meanwhile she ****es on people fighting for democracy," one person tweeted.
But on the Chinese internet and in state media it's been a different story. On those platforms, the actress has received considerable support.
On Thursday, China's state-run tabloid Global Times published a broadside against the boycott, accusing those who tweeted in support of it of "launching cyber violence against people who supports China."
"As the hashtag #Mulan was once topped Twitter's worldwide trend, these naysayers only want to use the popularity of the film to smear the Hong Kong police," Li Qingqing wrote in the newspaper. "The criticism is not simply targeted at a film. It is a malicious personal attack bordering on racism."
Retaliation against the boycott on Twitter helped to expose a network of bots that the platform said was being used to coordinate attacks against pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and spread misinformation about the ongoing unrest.
Li, meanwhile, said accounts tweeting in favor of the boycott should be suspended.


Global Times
✔
@globaltimesnews
Anti-China public opinion wants to boycott #Mulan, as if whoever buys the ticket and watches the film is the enemy of democracy and freedom. These people are ideological paranoids. http://bit.ly/30yWQHq #SupportMulan #LiuYifei

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ECgpFGUXoAEgCeI?format=jpg&name=large

View image on Twitter
61
10:20 AM - Aug 21, 2019
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56 people are talking about this
On Twitter, where Global Times is one of several state-run outlets maintaining a major presence, the paper said boycotters were "ideological paranoids" and included its own hashtag #SupportMulan.
At the time of writing, the hashtag was largely populated by tweets referencing instances of violence during the protests, and accusing participants of being "thugs" or stooges of Washington fighting for Hong Kong independence.
"In the story of Mulan," one meme shared by several posters said, "she fights for her family and country in case it's been divided by others."

THREADS
Mulan - Live-Action (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)
Hong Kong protests (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23536-Hong-Kong-protests)

[GeneChing]

Didn't quite know where to post this as Wu has worked on a number of films we've discussed so I'm going with the upcoming Mulan one (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project) and the Wushu one (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?28273-Wushu).


AUGUST 29, 2019 9:45AM PT
Production Artist Jane Wu Smashes Glass Ceiling With Her Work on Action Movies (https://variety.com/2019/artisans/production/production-artist-jane-wu-action-movies-1203314971/)
By S.D. KATZ

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/alan-taylor-and-jane-wu.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
CREDIT: COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.

“If no one is dying, nothing is exploding and no one is trying to kill each other, you shouldn’t be calling me,” says Jane Wu, a storyboard artist with credits including “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Thor: Ragnarok” and Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of “Mulan.”

Wu is one of the few women who work in this segment of the business, where artists sketch out the action sequences that the rest of a movie’s crew will spend months realizing for the big screen.

Wu says she used the more generic name J. Wu in the early part of her career. With her talents now in high demand, she doesn’t need the abbreviation. “By the time I got a shot at ‘The Avengers,’ they already knew my name,” she says. “[Director] Joss [Whedon] was looking for more action people and asked, ‘Who is this person that I keep hearing about?’ That got him curious enough to bring me in, and I got the gig.”

A graduate of Otis College of Art and Design, Wu started her career by opening a comic book shop in the 1990s and drawing comics in her spare time. She was a student of the traditional Chinese martial art wushu, and that knowledge helped her draw technically correct poses when choreographing fight scenes.

Her first break was being hired as a character designer for the late-1990s animated TV series “Men in Black.” Wu says she preferred story and sequential art, and her skeptical director agreed to give her a shot at storyboarding.

“I failed miserably,” Wu says. “I didn’t understand scene construction.” She was advised to watch old black-and-white movies with the sound off; things began to click after a few months.

She began storyboarding on Season 2 of “Men in Black,” as well as producing and directing a couple of episodes. She moved on to storyboarding the animated “Godzilla: The Series,” the “Tinker Bell” video series and the Disney sequel “Mulan 2.”

She broke into live-action storyboarding with an uncredited turn on “The A-Team” and followed it up with “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.” But the move brought new challenges.

“I was the only woman in the story pit,” she says. “No women directors, no women story artists. I knew I needed to be one of the boys, so I would play basketball at lunch with everyone and talk nerd stuff to fit in, and with my tomboy upbringing, I was shortly in the club and accepted by the pack.”

Working in New York on the “Sopranos” prequel, Wu faced another challenge to her action skill set. “I wanted to Dutch [tilt] one of the shots to heighten the action, but I was told ‘The Sopranos’ is about realism not fantasy.”

Her next gig opens another new door: serving as a producer alongside director Alan Taylor on “Gold Mountain,” about the 1850s San Francisco gold rush.

Ultimately, Wu didn’t wind up using a flying kick to break down barriers in the industry; her storyboard sketches did.

I spoke at Otis College of Art and Design on a panel for Shaolin: Temple of Zen: Photographs by Justin Guariglia (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48263-Shaolin-Temple-of-Zen-Photographs-by-Justin-Guariglia&p=829965#post829965). It produces some amazing artists.

[GeneChing]

Hollywood's New Self-Censorship Mess in China (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/south-park-lebron-hollywood-new-censorship-mess-1248149)
8:37 AM PDT 10/16/2019 by Tatiana Siegel

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2019/10/0.jpg

With pro-democracy marches gaining steam in Hong Kong and billions at stake in the country’s film market, studios may look to speak out just enough that it "doesn’t embarrass you so much that people say you’re a toady or kowtowing."
Two days after South Park was banned in China, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone served up Hollywood’s most defiant rebuke of the communist government in decades with their Oct. 9 episode. When the Comedy Central series’ geologist turned pot dealer Randy Marsh — voiced by Parker — shouted, “**** the Chinese government!” it marked the most incendiary words from an actor since Richard Gere dubbed China’s occupation of Tibet “horrendous” at the 1993 Oscars.

While South Park’s “Shots!!!” episode provided fodder for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters, who are battling mainland backed police forces, don’t expect many other high-profile entertainment figures to follow suit. When it comes to China and its vast moneymaking potential, the prevailing wisdom is: Get woke, go broke. The practice of self-censorship is common now, say top producers. “With China, nothing is transparent,” a producer who has released films there tells The Hollywood Reporter. “No one knows what the ground rules are. And that’s by design. It leaves everyone on edge.”

From Mulan actress Crystal Liu to the Lakers’ LeBron James, most top stars are taking no chances and are lining up to either side with the Chinese regime or denounce any criticism of its authoritarian tactics. Similarly, companies like ESPN (which used a controversial map on SportsCenter that indicated the self ruled island of Taiwan was part of China) and Apple (which removed from its online stores the so-called Hong Kong protest app and quietly dropped the Gere series *******s, despite picking it up straight to series late last year) appear to be toeing the party line.

All the while, observers say an overt self-censorship has begun to creep into the entertainment industry. Inside Hollywood, the film industry faces the greatest risk in rocking the China boat.

Consider that American movies earned $3.2 billion in China in 2018, with Disney accounting for nearly a quarter of that with $700 million. This year, the studio’s Avengers: Endgame pulled in $614 million from China alone. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Disney stayed silent in the wake of Liu posting on social media platform Weibo in August: “I support Hong Kong’s police, you can beat me up now,” adding the hashtag #IAlsoSupportTheHongKong Police.

“Disney has certainly enjoyed major success in China, but I’d hesitate to say that any single studio has the luxury of provoking China because it’s a very important relationship for the industry at large,” says Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice Media. “Virtually all of the majors have appealed to Chinese audiences with blockbuster tentpole releases and occasionally in a bigger way than some films played with domestic moviegoers.”

James’ courtship of Chinese consumers extends well beyond basketball and sneakers and into film thanks to his upcoming Warner Bros. tentpole Space Jam 2 (dated for July 16, 2021). But James drew outrage when he blasted Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey for tweeting his support for Hong Kong protesters, calling him “misinformed” (Morey had deleted the tweet). After all, James has been outspoken about police brutality in the U.S. as well as about President Trump’s so-called Muslim travel ban (in China, more than 1 million Uighur Muslims are said to be held in internment camps).

Disney-owned ESPN drew further criticism when Deadspin on Oct. 8 reported on a leaked email written by news editor Chuck Salituro that discouraged any political discussion about China and Hong Kong with regard to the Morey story. (An ESPN source noted that the network had reporters and cameras in Shanghai and broadcast video of a Chinese worker ripping down an NBA logo as well as video of the Lakers arriving to little fanfare.)

“In entertainment, these people have to look at the bottom line,” says Stan Rosen, a USC professor who specializes in China’s entertainment industry. “You want to address [the human rights abuses] in a way that keeps the China market but doesn’t embarrass you so much that people say you’re a toady or kowtowing to China. That’s why you’re seeing a pushback against the NBA and Disney to a certain extent.”

Some of the official explanations offered by corporate giants for their Chinese-friendly moves have been criticized as murky. With *******s, sources say Apple bristled at the vigilante justice tone of the show. As for the app removal, the tech and soon-to-be content giant said that HKMap.Live, used by Hong Kong protesters, had endangered law enforcement and residents.

The stakes continue to grow. This year, China’s Tencent signed a five-year, $1.5 billion deal to continue as the NBA’s exclusive digital partner in China. In the case of South Park, China’s move to scrub every clip, episode and online discussion of the series won’t hit Viacom’s bottom line. But the parent company, soon to merge with CBS, will have to contend with any Chinese retaliation for its other companies like Paramount, which fuels the country’s pipeline with such product as the Mission: Impossible and Transformers films.

A company like Netflix has more freedom to antagonize China given that its platform isn’t available in the Middle Kingdom, thus it acquired such incendiary documentaries as 2017’s Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower. But it will face a major test of China’s patience with the upcoming Meryl Streep starrer The Laundromat, which depicts adherents of outlawed spiritual practice Falun Gong as victims of the government’s organ harvesting program. South Park and Laundromat notwithstanding, the industry likely will continue to tiptoe around China and any other lucrative hotspots that contribute to the bottom line of studios, networks and streamers.

“That’s the world in which we live now. You’re pandering to the people that have the money and the power,” says Joker producer Jason Cloth of the industry’s increased self-censorship. “There are many films that fail in North America but do gangbuster business in major foreign markets. So if you have to be cognizant of offending somebody in a major foreign market, you’re going to stay away from that subject matter.

This story first appeared in the Oct. 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.


THREADS
DAngerous Riot Breaks out at Basketball game... (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?35283-DAngerous-Riot-Breaks-out-at-Basketball-game)
HK Protests (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23536-Hong-Kong-protests)
Censorship (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?39839-Censorship)
Mulan Live-Action Disney project (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)

[@PLUGO]

check it out.
10770

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK8FHdFluOQ

[GeneChing]

'Mulan' and the New Type of Disney Remake (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/why-mulan-is-a-new-type-disney-remake-1259870)
DECEMBER 05, 2019 12:58PM by Richard Newby

While films like Jon Favreau’s 'The Lion King' have been criticized as shot-by-shot rehashes of older projects, the upcoming movie appears to be doing something different.

Disney is looking to once again bring honor to the story of Mulan. The second trailer for the film, directed by Niki Caro, was released this morning and further teased a significant reimaging of the classic 1998 animated film directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook. Disney has been re-exploring its animated properties with increased fervor of late. This year alone saw remakes of Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King, The Lady and the Tramp, and the sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which works in context of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. These remakes have by and large proven to be box office hits, but critically they’ve been a mixed bag with many citing a failure to do anything new with the material. It’s clear from the latest trailer for Mulan, starring Crystal Liu as the titular character, that the film will be departing from animated film, and offer a new take on the Chinese legend, The Ballad of Mulan. But will this fresh vision be embraced by audiences looking for nostalgia, and critics waiting to see if Disney can do more than follow in the footsteps of their greatest hits?

With the exception of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Disney’s 2019 remakes have largely followed similar beats as the original films, plus or minus a few new songs or characters. The only one of them to earn a positive reception on Rotten Tomatoes was Lady and the Tramp, which was released on Disney+, forgoing a theatrical release. Yet, all of theatrical released films have earned an “A” CinemaScore from audiences, except for Dumbo, which earned an “A-,“ and was the lowest grossing of the lot at $353 million worldwide. Ironically, Tim Burton’s Dumbo did the most in terms of bringing something new to the story, making significant changes to the cast of characters and structure of the 1941 animated film. Jon Favreau’s The Lion King earned $1.655 billion worldwide, yet it stuck so closely to the original film that it felt more like a VFX experiment than a movie. Nevertheless, the global box office takes of both films make pointed statements about audiences' interests in seeing familiar stories, especially if they’re wrapped in catchy cover versions of classic songs. This makes the case of Mulan all the more interesting.

While the trailer incorporates the familiar melody of “Reflection,” which launched Christina Aguilera’s career, Mulan won’t be a musical. And going by the tone of the trailer, it won’t employ much of the animated film’s comedy either, given that Mushu, voiced by Eddie Murphy in the original, will also be absent. Instead Mulan will be a fantasy war epic. The names of a number of prominent characters have also been changed with love interest Li Shang recast as Chen Honghui (Yoson An) and villainous leader of the Huns, Shan Yu recast as Bori Khan (Jason Scott Lee). The film will also introduce a secondary villain, shape-shifting witch, Xian Lang (Gong Li). All of these differences serve to create a sense that Mulan is something more than a remake, and perhaps geared at slightly older audience members, or at least those less interested in nostalgia.

Mulan comes at a point when Hollywood is broadening, slowly, the look of their protagonists. While not an Asian-American story, the film comes at a time when Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and The Farewell (2019), have succeeded at box office, once again proving the point that many have always known, representation sells. Disney will expand this notion further with 2021 Marvel Studios’ film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, starring Simu Liu. Disney is typically risk adverse, but a Mulan film that doesn’t rely on familiar characters, songs or story beats, and instead hinges on the action prowess of its Chinese leads and cultural fantasy elements, is an admirably bold move. With luck, Mulan will become a breakout hit and give Disney further license to take chances with their remakes.

There will surely be some disappointment over the film straying from the animated film, and how the film will play overseas is anyone’s guess (The 1998 edition failed to become a hit in China). But Mulan looks to follow the path paved by Cinderella (2015), Pete’s Dragon (2016) and Christopher Robin (2018), and offer a vision that can stand on its own merits and filmmaking skills. While we’re far from the realm of an age of auteur Disney remakes, Mulan certainly looks like a step in the right direction, and its success could usher in a new era for Disney’s consideration of its animated classics just in time for a new decade of storytelling.

There are no witches in The Ballad of Mulan. I don't know about later interpretations however. I haven't seen that but I haven't seen them all. Anyone?

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipq2Xq7DmC0

[GeneChing]

Luv this guy. :cool:


JANUARY 17, 2020 12:34PM PT
Hollywood’s Go-To Asian Dad Tzi Ma Dishes on ‘Mulan’ and Oscar Snub for ‘The Farewell’ (https://variety.com/2020/film/news/tzi-ma-the-farewell-disney-mulan-tigertail-alan-yang-awkwafina-1203470589/)
By REBECCA DAVIS

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/tzi_7437.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
CREDIT: KATE SZATMARI

One person who was not surprised that “The Farewell” bid goodbye to any chance of an Oscar earlier this week was actor Tzi Ma, who played Awkwafina’s father in the film.

“I didn’t expect it. There were exactly zero dollars promoting the film in any way,” Ma tells Variety. “Awards are a beauty pageant. People campaign for it. The fact that we made such an audience impact is what made it so important – the recognition that we don’t have to campaign for.”

Yet while the Golden Globe-winning title was hailed as a triumph of Asian American storytelling in the U.S., it has performed disastrously in China, earning less than $1 million despite being shot by a China-born director with a predominantly Chinese cast. Its poor performance raises the question of how Chinese audiences will respond to the “Chinese-ness” of Disney’s “Mulan,” helmed by Kiwi director Niki Caro.

Ma plays the patriarch in “Mulan,” which opens March 27, and will again take on the Asian dad role alongside Joan Chen in Alan Yang’s “Tigertail” for Netflix, forthcoming in April.

With no fear of being typecast, he jokes that he has “already done so many different things – this is just the fun part. My list of screen daughters is powerful. I put that team on a field and we’ll win every game.”

But it remains to be seen whether Chinese actress Liu Yifei’s Mulan will be powerful enough to carry her highly anticipated blockbuster to new heights.

Ma says that whatever its outcome in the world’s second largest film market, the movie’s very existence as a blockbuster of this scale is itself “a statement.”

“It’s rare and unheard of for Disney to (put) down this kind of money for an entirely Asian cast. ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ at $30 million, no problem. But $300 million? I don’t think so.” he said. “I’m proud of this film because the powers that be gave us a lot of money to make it happen.”

He addressed some of the concerns that have arisen around accuracy and representation in “Mulan,” including the complaint that Caro is not Asian or Chinese.

“It’s really unfair – you need to see the work first before you complain about someone you know very little about,” he says. “I just hope that people will at least give the film a chance and judge it on its merits instead of all these biases.”

He himself didn’t know what to expect from Caro or the production at first, as he still hadn’t seen a script even while in talks for the part. “All the studios are doing that now, keeping everything so under wraps. It drives me crazy. This is not Pulitzer Prize-winning writing here,” he jokes.

But Caro ultimately won his confidence with the sensitivity and attention she brought to the film’s female roles, and her mostly female creative team’s attention to historical, period detail.

Yet despite such research, some of the first reactions in China to the “Mulan” trailer were of dismayed befuddlement over historical inaccuracies. This Mulan lives in a traditional “tulou” roundhouse – a visually striking structure, to be sure, but one that didn’t exist until a thousand years after the story is set, and is found only in southern, coastal Fujian province amongst the Hakka people, rather than the hero’s native north.

Ma says such choices were all in service of making the visuals pop. “I hope they can forgive us for that, because the look of it is just so gorgeous. I hope people take it in the spirit of art, rather than nitpick and complain about this or that.”

Although they picked up some second unit shots, the crew didn’t end up actually shooting in China, despite trying for a year to make it happen.

Other viewers have questioned why the “Mulan” characters speak in a Chinglish-like accent. Ma calls it “a slight intonation that hopefully gives the feel of period speech as opposed to accented speech,” explaining that it was a very deliberate decision made in order to make it seem as though the American and non-native English speaking Chinese cast all came from the same time and place.

“You’ve got to find some cohesiveness about this group of people. And it’s a period piece – we don’t want to take you out of the reality of the past,” he says.

Superstar Liu, who is perhaps more revered by mainland Chinese audiences for the classical shape of her face and features than for her acting skills, has in the past been dubbed “box office poison” by her snarkier local critics. But in Ma’s eyes, “she’s the real deal.”

Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters called for a boycott of “Mulan” after Liu posted messages to her social media platforms repeating Communist Party propaganda in support of the local police force there who have been internationally criticized for brutal tactics.

Hong Kong-born Ma doesn’t take a stance himself, but condemns the violence that has occurred on both sides. “Just because I was born in Hong Kong doesn’t mean I know Hong Kong,” he says. “What’s the end game here?”

He also pooh-poohed the monetary might of the boycott itself. “I don’t think it’s going to be impactful,” he says. “Really, what’s Hong Kong going to do? They’re going to ask who to boycott? How many people are going to sympathize with your cause?”

Meanwhile, the very personal film “Tigertail” will showcase a different kind of Asian story at a more intimate scale. Written and directed by “Master of None” co-creater Yang, it spans the 1950s to the present day to tell the story of his father’s decision to leave Taiwan and come to America.

Much of it is in Taiwanese, with the Taiwan-set parts shot on film in Yang’s actual hometown, and New York scenes shot in digital.

“It shows us a side of Alan I didn’t think he had,” Ma says.

In the film, the father character enters an arranged marriage that gives him the opportunity to come to America as a young man, leaving behind his life and a woman he actually loved in Taiwan. Years later, divorced and ready to retire, he returns with his daughter to try and reconnect with his past.

Ma is thrilled to see more Asian American stories getting their time to shine. “Why is it that when we come out we have to hit a ****ing home run every time? Everyone else is afforded the time to grow, to fail and then survive,” he says.

“There are still too few stories about us. Quantity matters. We need the numbers so that all our people’s hopes and dreams aren’t just pinned on one thing.”

THREADS
The Farewell (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71409-The-Farewell)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)

[GeneChing]

Mulan director reveals whether Disney remake features Mushu (https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a30517030/mulan-disney-live-action-remake-mushu-update/?fbclid=IwAR1NmooLW0z0geGeHqtivyqmVycAaA2Nx4KfxZzu fCyN7Q2NE5oS2Ym9oRA)
One of our childhood favourites, for sure.
BY FILIZ MUSTAFA
14/01/2020

Mulan director Niki Caro has sadly revealed that the upcoming live-action remake won't feature "an update" of the animated film's fan-favourite character Mushu.

The red dragon, voiced by Eddie Murphy in Disney's 1998 original animation, acted as the self-appointed guardian of Fa Mulan, devoted to protecting and giving guidance to the female warrior when she posed as a male soldier in the army.

Mushu wasn't spotted in the movie's first trailer when it was released last year, and director Caro has now revealed why they decided to leave Mushu out of the highly-anticipated remake.

https://hips.hearstapps.com/digitalspyuk.cdnds.net/18/25/1529591410-dragon.jpg
DISNEY

"I think we can all appreciate that Mushu is irreplaceable," she told Digital Spy and other press recently at a Mulan footage presentation.

"You know, the animated classic stands on its own in that regard. In this movie, there is a creature representative – a spiritual representation of the ancestors, and most particularly of Mulan's relationship with her father.

"But an update of Mushu? No."

Caro also addressed the theories that the phoenix included in the film's trailer might be an updated version of the character – and ruled them out too.

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/mulan-the-emperor-1576161940.jpg
DISNEY

"So, on the left and right hand of the emperor is a dragon," she explained. "The dragon is representative of the masculine, and the phoenix is representative of the feminine.

"In a movie, in a story that so much explores gender fluidity, I thought that that was a really nice and appropriate way to go."

But before you get too worried that there will be no elements of the original animation in the live-action remake, Caro added that there were some parts of the 1998 film that they stayed very faithful to.

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/mulan-yifei-liu-1-1576161936.jpg
DISNEY

"The matchmaker sequence from the animation, we were very, very faithful to that idea," she explained.

"And that's the only time you see Mulan really dressed in a very feminine way, because all of her other costumes for when she's a teenager are the costumes for a girl that likes to ride a horse, and a girl that likes to kick a ball, and are not so girly."

Mulan will be released in cinemas on March 27, 2020.

It's funny to me how attached so many are to the Disney version. Meanwhile there's the original legend, which doesn't have Mushu or music either (unless you count the operas, and that's different music entirely). On the same note, movies like Lion King and Beauty and the Beast get criticized for being too much like the Disney original. It's impossible to please everyone nowadays. We're all too divided. :(

[GeneChing]

‘Asian-American actors are ugly & your films make us look backward’: Hollywood sets movies in China, locals don’t want to watch (https://www.rt.com/op-ed/478793-hollywood-china-farewell-failure/)
Michael McCaffrey
Michael McCaffrey lives in Los Angeles where he works as an acting coach, screenwriter and consultant. He is also a freelance film and cultural critic whose work can be read at RT, Counterpunch and at his website mpmacting.com.
21 Jan, 2020 14:04 / Updated 3 days ago

https://cdni.rt.com/files/2020.01/article/5e26f71f85f54055a4771648.jpg
The Farewell (2019) Dir: Lulu Wang © А24 studio

Hollywood thinks that by telling Chinese stories they will woo its massive market they so crave…they couldn’t be more wrong, as the failure of the Farewell amply illustrates.
The critically adored American film, which tells the story of a Chinese-American woman who returns to her ancestral homeland to visit her dying grandmother, opened in China at the weekend.

As The Farewell was written and directed by a Chinese American woman, Lulu Wang, and stars Chinese-American, Golden Globe winning actress Awkwafina, while the film’s dialogue is mostly spoken in Mandarin, Hollywood’s expectations were that the movie would be well received in China.

That did not work out.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RofpAjqwMa8

The Farewell has been largely ignored by Chinese audiences as evidenced by its embarrassingly dismal take at the Chinese box office of just $580,000, and scathing audience reviews from viewers who largely thought that the story was dull, patronizing, and had nothing to say to them.

The film’s failure is reminiscent of the poor showing in China by another Asian themed Hollywood movie, Crazy Rich Asians, which was a breakout smash hit in America in 2018, bringing in $174 million at the US box office. American audiences cheered Crazy Rich Asians largely due to its Asian cast, which was deemed a great success for representation and diversity for Hollywood. In contrast, China, which has plenty of its own movies with all-Asian casts, had no such love for the film as proven by its tepid box office receipts.

Crossing the cultural divide and tapping into the Chinese market has long been the Holy Grail of Hollywood, as every studio executive in town is constantly trying to crack the Chinese code in order to fill their coffers.

Of course, studio executives are not always the most ambitious creative thinkers, so the only plan they’ve been able to come up with thus far is to pander. Not surprisingly, Hollywood’s ham-handed attempts to cater to Chinese audiences have consistently backfired.

Disney thought Asian representation would attract Chinese audiences when they cast Asian-American actress Kelly Marie Tran in a major role in the most recent Star Wars trilogy. The problem was that Ms. Tran (who is of Vietnamese descent anyway, which is like appealing to the English by casting an Italian) did not conform to classical Chinese standards of beauty and thus Chinese audiences never warmed to her.

Chinese audiences have voiced similar complaints regarding Awkwafina, with some Chinese people on social media going so far as to call her “very ugly,” which may be one of the reasons why The Farewell is doing so poorly. And this is before we get to her Mandarin, which was widely considered laughable for a first-generation immigrant, even a one who left China early, according to the plot (the actress herself did not speak Chinese fluently before the film).

Another example of this cultural divide is Simu Liu, a Canadian-Chinese actor who was recently cast in the lead of the upcoming Marvel movie Shang-chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Liu is considered handsome by Western standards but some Chinese people say he is “not handsome by Chinese standards” – at least when compared to many of the local action stars – which means Shang-chi might face an uphill battle at the Chinese box office when it comes out.

https://cdni.rt.com/files/2020.01/original/5e26f78120302745a57f6423.jpg
Simu Liu of Marvel Studios' 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' © Getty Images for Disney / Alberto E. Rodriguez

continued next post

[GeneChing]

Hollywood has had significant success in China, the world’s second largest film market by revenue.

For instance, of the top 15 highest grossing films in Chinese box office history, four are Hollywood productions. They are Avengers: Endgame, The Fate of the Furious, Furious 7 and Avengers: Infinity War.

It seems Hollywood has not learned the lesson of their Chinese successes though because unlike Crazy Rich Asians, The Farewell and even to a certain extent the poorly received latest Star Wars trilogy, the Hollywood films that have found success in China are gigantic franchises telling American stories filled to the brim with spectacle and movie stars…and none of those stars are Chinese.

In 2020 Disney is once again making a major attempt to court the Chinese market by releasing Mulan, a live action adaptation of the 1998 animated film of the same name. While Mulan is based on the Chinese folk story ‘The Ballad of Mulan’ and will boast a very attractive cast of Asian actors, including star Liu Yifei, that is no guarantee of box office success. The 1998 animated Mulan financially flopped in China – though this was before its current cinema-building boom – and one wonders if the live action version is just another culturally tone deaf attempt by Hollywood to try to tell and sell a Chinese story back to the Chinese.

Hollywood’s belief that Chinese audiences want to see Hollywood make Chinese themed-movies with Chinese stars seems to be staggeringly obtuse and based on its own identity politics than how people around the world actually consume entertainment.

China has a thriving film industry all of its own and Chinese audiences don’t clamor to see Chinese stories told from Hollywood’s perspective (even if they’re made by Chinese-American artists) any more than Americans yearn to see American stories told by foreign artists, however, flattering it might be that someone is interested enough in your culture (and pockets) to do that.

Chinese audiences want to see American movies from America and can get over the fact that none of their countrymen look like Chris Hemsworth.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUXfv87Wpk

At its best, the art form of cinema is a universal language that speaks eloquently across cultural boundaries. For example, American audiences this year have embraced the South Korean film Parasite.

Parasite didn’t try to tell an American story with American actors in an attempt to cash in with US audiences; instead it tells a dramatic and artistically profound Korean story about family and class that connects to people of all cultures and looks fresh to foreign audiences.

Hollywood would be wise to emulate that approach, particularly since it already knows how to dominate the global box office.

And if it does want to make what it thinks are “Asian” stories, it should be culturally humble enough to know that it’s making them primarily for the art house cinemas in Brooklyn, rather than the multiplexes in Beijing.

THREADS
The Farewell (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71409-The-Farewell)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71109-Shang-Chi-and-the-Legend-of-the-Ten-Rings)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project)
Parasite (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71321-Parasite)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-eFm--k21c

THREADS
Super Bowl LIV (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71660-Super-Bowl-LIV)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-Live-Action-Disney-project) (note that I'm changing the title from Mulan - Live-Action Disney project to Mulan 2020)

[GeneChing]

As I mentioned on the Birds of Prey thread this morning (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70784-Birds-of-Prey&p=1317724#post1317724), the female-strong trend in films is flopping so far. Mulan is the next up to bat (not a Harley Quinn pun, but it should be). I've got my fingers crossed for this one more than all of the others.


FEBRUARY 7, 2020 8:52AM PT
Disney Remains Committed to ‘Mulan’ Global Release, Even if China Film Biz Stays Closed (https://variety.com/2020/film/asia/disney-mulan-global-release-china-film-business-closed-1203496248/)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/mulan.jpg?w=887&h=499&crop=1
CREDIT: NULL

The final trailer for Disney’s Mulan was one of the highlights of the weekend’s Superbowl LIV. It was fast-moving, spectacular and seemingly well-received by fans on social media. It was also a reaffirmation of the studio’s commitment to releasing the family blockbuster in late March.

The film faces an unexpected headwind in one of its key markets: China. There, a dangerous virus outbreak has closed cinemas since the end of January and stirred up a storm of problems across the length of the entire film industry, from local production, through exhibition, to Hollywood distribution.

It would be disappointing for Disney if China cannot be part of the film’s synchronized global launch. But the studio faces an unenviable choice – leave the China release to a later date, or delay the entire global campaign until a time when the Wuhan coronavirus has died down. Not only is it currently unclear when that might be, but the film’s marketing and promotional campaign would also have to be restarted.

That would be an unwelcome additional expense on top of what may well be the most costly non-franchise movie of all time: “Mulan” has a production budget of $200 million.

A significant portion of that may have been spent giving “Mulan” the best shot at working in China, the world’s second largest theatrical market with a box office last year exceeding $9 billion.

Based on a well-known Chinese legend about a female warrior from the fourth century AD, the film-makers went back to the original source material, the folksong “Ballad of Mulan,” for inspiration for both the screenplay and the film’s design.

The title role went to Crystal Liu, a young but already celebrated singer-actress, better known in China as Liu Yifei. Other lead roles go to mainland Chinese superstars Gong Li and Jet Li, and the popular Hong Kong-based Donnie Yen.

But while “Mulan” is a story that’s culturally specific to China, it’s a movie that Disney sees as appealing to markets all around the world. Presented largely in English, and directed by New Zealander Niki Caro, the film plays up the contemporary concept of a female hero, as well as trading in adventure, spectacle and martial arts action.

Significantly, “Mulan” was not made as an official U.S.-China co-production. While a co-production might have offered the studio a greater share of the China box office revenue, the complications of working in China can outweigh the benefits. Among those is the requirement that an overseas release cannot precede the Chinese release.

As such, “Mulan” will suffer the slight disadvantage of being treated as an import into China, but Disney will enjoy the flexibility of setting its own release dates around the planet – from March 25 in Finland and France, and March 27 in North America.

Disney’s China reps had anticipated “Mulan” obtaining a slot that would have allowed a day-and-date or near simultaneous outing, concurrent with its Asian and North American sorties. But the firm had not yet received an authorized release date by the time China ground to a virus-induced halt.

If Disney is ultimately unable to include China as part of the film’s global release pattern, there is a danger that online pirated versions of “Mulan” may leak into the country. (The studio has not altered its release plans in Asia-Pacific, where there will be Chinese-language versions of the film.) Piracy could shrink or compromise the box office success of the film’s eventual China release, though the Chinese government which maintains ultimate control over the Internet in China, has the ability to stamp out much of it.

But, important as “Mulan” is for the studio, Disney has greater headaches in China brought on by the virus outbreak. On a conference call this week, Disney chairman Bob Iger warned that the group would lose out on $175 million of operating income if the Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland theme parks remain closed for two months.

THREADS
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Coronavirus (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

Having Jet in this and not fighting would've been a waste of talent for sure. If it's Jet's acting without fighting you want, there's always Ocean Heaven (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?55101-Ocean-Heaven).


Mulan remake has made a big change to the Emperor (https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a30993758/mulan-2020-emperor-jet-li/?fbclid=IwAR0aPZDobT7r9hk5Jb20aM1LnWVFRUayCxIxyfBg nWLdlJ5uHkdZUHETKWI)
You can't just have Jet Li sitting down...
BY CHRIS EDWARDS
19/02/2020

Disney's live-action Mulan remake is going to feature a major change from the original animation – namely, an Emperor who kicks butt.

The Emperor is being played by iconic martial arts actor Jet Li (also a former Wushu champion), who'll be doing a lot more than just sitting on a throne.

Speaking to Empire, producer Jason Reed said: "Jet Li is one of the greatest Wushu masters of all time. The Emperor does not just sit on the throne and read scrolls in our movie.

"Jet himself has huge heart and palpable soul, but he's a warrior, OK? So you know at some point in the movie he's gonna get off the throne and it's gonna go down."

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/jet-li-mulan-1582114345.png
DISNEYYOUTUBE

We already know that the live-action remake is going to be slightly different to the original, which could make a refreshing change after the likes of The Lion King and Aladdin, which pretty much kept things exactly the same as the animations.

And in the most recent trailer for Mulan, we were given a glimpse of a brand new villain who certainly wasn't in the original.

In this version, the Huns have a powerful witch named Xian Lang at their disposal, who looks set to present a completely different type of threat.

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/mulan-remake-xian-lang-jpg-1580736354.jpg
DISNEY

Tzi Ma, who plays Mulan's father, previously told Digital Spy: "I believe this live-action film is superior to the animation, very importantly because of the leadership. Niki Caro is the director. She's bringing in this woman's point of view, which it needs to be because this movie is about a woman warrior.

"Liu Yifei, the woman who's playing Mulan, is in my mind one of the best actors out there. She's so engaging and compelling that I believe the audience will fall in love with her at first sight."

Mulan is due to be released on March 27.

[GeneChing]

I'm guessing that's not for language, nudity or drug use, so hopefully it's for...violence. ;)


FEBRUARY 19, 2020 12:10PM PT
‘Mulan’ Is Disney’s First Live-Action Remake to Get a PG-13 Rating (https://variety.com/2020/film/news/mulan-rating-pg-13-violence-disney-1203508059/)
By KLARITZA RICO

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/mulan.jpg?w=887&h=499&crop=1
CREDIT: NULL

“Mulan” may not be for very young children, as it’s become the first Disney live-action remake to receive a PG-13 rating.

The new take on the Disney classic got the rating from the Motion Picture Association of America due to the “sequences of violence” apparently depicted in the film. All previous live-action remakes from the studio have received a G or PG rating, and 2017’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” was Disney’s most recent film to be labeled PG-13.

“Mulan” is straying away from the model of previous remakes like “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Cinderella.” Unlike the other live-action takes, “Mulan’s” trailers depicted the film without its famous musical numbers and removed some of the characters featured in the original 1998 animated version, including Mushu, Mulan’s dragon companion who was voiced by Eddie Murphy. Two trailers have been released, following the story of a young Chinese woman who takes her father’s place to fight for their country. The first looks reinforce the idea that the film is taking a more mature approach, showing Mulan in action on the battlefield.


Liu Yifei is starring as Mulan, with Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Gong Li, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Ron Yuan, Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao, Cheng Pei-Pei, Nelson Lee and Chum Ehelepola rounding out the cast. Niki Caro directed, with Chris Bender, Jason Reed, and Jake Weiner producing. Barrie M. Osborne, Bill Kong and Tim Coddington serve as executive producers.

“Mulan” is set to hit theaters on March 27.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LnPZo_M030

[GeneChing]

NEWS FEBRUARY 28, 2020 6:15AM PT
Hollywood Studios Assembling Coronavirus Strategy Teams (https://variety.com/2020/film/news/hollywood-coronavirus-no-time-to-die-mulan-1203518001/)
By BRENT LANG
Executive Editor of Film and Media
@https://twitter.com/BrentALang

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/b25_25594_r-e1575469208183.jpg?w=1000&h=562&crop=1.
CREDIT: NICOLE DOVE

As coronavirus continues its deadly march across the globe, the outbreak is wreaking havoc with Hollywood’s efforts to launch major movies and shows. In the process, companies are asking employees to delay work trips to countries such as China, Japan, Italy and South Korea, the regions that have been the most affected by the disease, and they are scuttling promotional campaigns for several upcoming blockbusters.

Studios have already cancelled plans for China premieres for films such as Disney’s “Mulan” and the James Bond adventure “No Time to Die” — moves that could cost those movies tens of millions in box office revenue. Sony’s “Bloodsport” was also expected to screen in China, but that release date remains up in the air. Most of these films hadn’t gotten the official word from Chinese authorities that they would be allowed to screen in the country, but there’s little chance that will come any time soon, as movie theaters in China remain closed. There are also indications that several upcoming movies such as “Mulan,” “The Grudge,” and “Onward” will delay their release in Italy, where the number of cases recently jumped to 400. No major U.S. films will debut in the country this weekend. Globally, the disease, named COVID-19, has infected over 82,500 people and killed 2,810. Healthcare experts expect that number to climb as coronavirus continues to spread to other parts of the world.

No studios were willing to go on the record about their response to the crisis, but privately they said they were taking “a wait-and-see” approach as the number of hotspots expands. Many are in regular contact with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization as they assess the rapidly changing situation.

Most of the major studios have begun assembling advisory teams comprising members of their production, marketing, finance, and human resources staff to assess the potential impact of the disease. Part of their task is to figure out how staff in these affected areas can remain safe. In some cases, they’re encouraging people in areas where there are a growing number of cases to work from home, and helping to ensure the technology is in place to make that happen.

Another topic of discussion is the business ramifications of a health crisis that has the potential to grow into an epidemic or pandemic. Studios are trying to determine if they should move major releases to avoid debuting films in parts of the world where coronavirus is spreading. At the same time, they’re assessing what impact such moves will have on other movies that are scheduled to debut later in 2020 and 2021. Studio executives believe that the theater closures in China and Italy, as well as the spread of the disease in major markets such as South Korea could result in billions of dollars in lost ticket sales.

“Mulan,” a $200 million adventure film with a cast of Asian actors, was expected to resonate in markets such as China, where it may not play for weeks or months. Rival studios say they are watching to see how Disney handles the challenges of debuting the film at a time when theaters in some countries are closed and people are hesitant to spend time in public spaces, before determining what to do with their own upcoming releases. The Bond film, “Wonder Woman: 1984,” and the ninth “Fast & Furious” movie are among the major films debuting in the coming months that had planned robust international rollouts. Those could be impacted if the disease continues to spread. The latest 007 adventure had originally intended to take a promotional swing through China, South Korea, and Japan, but those plans have been abandoned.

So far, studios such as Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, and Disney are also still expected to attend CinemaCon along with the stars of their upcoming movies. The annual exhibition industry trade show is being held in Las Vegas at the end of March and brings attendees from across the globe — though Chinese companies have cancelled on account of the travel ban. In a note to participants this week, Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of CinemaCon, and John Fithian, head of the National Association of Theatre Owners, the group behind the convention, said they still expected the event to be well-attended.

“An encouraging measure of the impact of coronavirus is that the number of concerned emails or phone calls coming to us are minimal,” they wrote. “We are, though, inundated with our normal number of emails and calls that are all about the planning of the convention.”

Justin Kroll contributed to this report.

THREADS
Chollywood (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57225-Chollywood-rising)
No Time to Die (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71114-No-Time-to-Die)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
covid-19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

It has already cost us (https://www.martialartsmart.com/) thousands, with more inevitable costs on the horizon. :(



Coronavirus may cost Disney’s ‘Mulan’ remake millions (https://www.nme.com/news/film/coronavirus-disney-mulan-live-action-remake-2619741)
The 27 March release date has been postponed in China
Ella Kemp
26 seconds ago

https://www.nme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/disney-mulan-696x442.jpg
Liu Yifei as Mulan

Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of Mulan could face major losses amid the coronavirus outbreak which began in China.

The March 27 release date has been postponed until further notice, and the country has closed nearly 70,000 cinemas, with plans to keep them closed until at least April.

The budget for Mulan exceeds $200 million, making it the company’s most expensive adaptation to date. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, explained the situation to Yahoo Finance.

“China can represent a huge percentage of a film’s international and global box office revenue, so this is going to have an impact on any movie that was slated,” he said.

Niki Caro’s take on Mulan features an all-Asian cast, somewhat departing from Disney’s usual releases, and also rates as a PG-13.

“The upside is that China will release all of these movies down the road, Dergarabedian continued, “but right now the whole release slate is in flux and there are no hard dates that they can put on these films.”

Elsewhere, coronavirus has affected the theatrical box office in Italy as well, which has seen a 75% decrease in takings, against the same period last year, according to Deadline.

Over half the country’s cinema screens have been closed, as Italy now has the third-biggest number of cases after China and South Korea.

https://www.nme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/liu-yifei.jpg
Liu Yifei (Photo by TPG/Getty Images)

Liu Yifei, who plays the eponymous hero in the upcoming Mulan, spoke on the topic of coronavirus recently to The Hollywood Reporter.

“It’s really heavy for me to even think about it,” Yifei said.

“People are doing the right thing. They are being careful for themselves and others. I’m so touched actually to see how they haven’t been out for weeks,” she said. “I’m really hoping for a miracle and that this will just be over soon.”

Mulan will be released in UK cinemas on March 27.

THREADS
Mulan (2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
covid-19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/1536x866/2020/02/rrosales_thr_mulan_0302_v2-splash_2020_thr.jpg
Photographed by Ramona Rosales

Inside Disney's Bold $200M Gamble on 'Mulan': "The Stakes Couldn't Be Higher" (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/inside-disneys-bold-200m-gamble-mulan-stakes-couldnt-be-higher-1280999)
by Rebecca Ford February 26, 2020, 6:00am PST

The high-profile remake, with an all-Asian cast, a PG-13 rating and a politically-charged star, was always going to pose major risks. Then the coronavirus upended its entire release plan.
Liu Yifei, star of Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, lives in Beijing, but she is originally from Wuhan, epicenter of the coronavirus. In January, the 32-year-old actress left China for Los Angeles to begin press for the film, weeks before the virus' outbreak, which has now infected more than 77,000 people, killed more than 2,500 and wreaked havoc in her home country. She says she doesn't have any family or close friends personally affected by the disease — she left Wuhan when she was 10 — but the epidemic has added an impossible-to-foresee variable to her film's March 27 worldwide release.

Liu pauses when asked about the outbreak. "It's really heavy for me to even think about it," she says. "People are doing the right thing. They are being careful for themselves and others. I'm so touched actually to see how they haven't been out for weeks. I'm really hoping for a miracle and that this will just be over soon."

In China, Liu is a household name, nicknamed "Fairy Sister" for her elegance and beauty. Modeling since age 8, she broke out in the 2003 Chinese TV series Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, a commercial hit in China and the highest-rated Chinese drama in Taiwan at the time, and hasn't stopped working in film and TV since, earning fashion partnerships with Adidas, Shiseido and Armani along the way.

Disney and director Niki Caro selected Liu from more than 1,000 aspirants from around the world to star as Hua Mulan, the Chinese heroine who disguises herself as a man to fight in the Imperial Army in a film carefully designed to appeal to Western and Chinese audiences alike. But now there's a question of when Mulan will be released in China. With the coronavirus shutting down all 70,000 of the country's theaters since Jan. 24, it's unclear — and more unlikely every day — that multiplexes will reopen in time for its planned release. (Several high-profile U.S. films, including Universal's Dolittle and 1917 and Searchlight's Jojo Rabbit, saw their February releases scrapped.) "It certainly has worldwide and global appeal, but there's no denying that this is a very important film for the Chinese market," says Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "It's a huge blow for Disney if it doesn't release in China." Disney president of production Sean Bailey says he's "looking at it day by day."

Of course, this puts added pressure on the $200 million budgeted film — the priciest of Disney's recent live-action remakes — to perform in the U.S. and the rest of the world. Liu, who is enveloped in her own storm of controversy based on a political social media post about the Hong Kong protests, says she is trying hard not to think about all that. "It would really be a loss for me if I let the pressure overtake my possibilities," says the actress, who learned English when she lived in New York as a child for four years with her mother, a dancer, after her parents' divorce.

Even before the outbreak of the virus, Mulan — the first Disney-branded film with an all-Asian cast and the first to be rated PG-13 (for battle scenes) — would have marked one of the studio's riskiest live-action films to date. While the original 1998 Mulan was a critical and commercial hit, garnering a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination and grossing more than $300 million worldwide ($475 million today), it faltered at the Chinese box office. Part of the reason is that the Chinese government stalled its premiere for nearly a year because of lingering anger over Disney's 1997 release of Kundun, Martin Scorsese's Dalai Lama movie that dealt with China's occupation of Tibet. By the time Mulan reached theaters in late February 1999, most children had returned to school after the Chinese New Year holiday and pirated copies were widely available. For the new film, the plan was to counter piracy by releasing the movie in China the same day as the rest of the world, a strategy that's no longer possible.

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/2020/02/rrosales_thr_mulan_1274-embed_2020_thr.jpg
Photographed by Ramona Rosales
In China, Liu is a household name, nicknamed "Fairy Sister" for her elegance and beauty. Carolina Herrera dress; Cartier earrings.

The film also has tested the ability and tolerance of Disney — which aims to be ideologically neutral — in managing global political fallout. In August, Liu stirred up a major controversy when she reposted a pro-police comment on Chinese platform Weibo (where she has more than 66 million followers) at the height of the violence in Hong Kong. Her action was seen by critics of the Chinese government as supporting police brutality; soon after, the hashtag #BoycottMulan started trending on Twitter. Liu, who has American co-citizenship from her time in the U.S., was harshly criticized around the world for supporting oppression.

"I think it's obviously a very complicated situation and I'm not an expert," she says now, cautious in the extreme. "I just really hope this gets resolved soon." When pressed, Liu, whose answer seemed rehearsed, declines to say much more, simply repeating, "I think it's just a very sensitive situation." (Bailey also deflects when asked: "Yifei's politics are her own, and we are just focused on the movie and her performance.")

"Most Chinese celebrities choose to avoid posting such political statements because of the risks to their careers internationally," says Dorothy Lau, a professor at the Academy of Film, Hong Kong Baptist University. But though Liu's post drew criticism globally, some experts believe the political drama could actually result in more support for the film in China. "At the time, the government came out in various publications supporting the film very strongly," says USC professor Stanley Rosen, who specializes in Chinese politics and society. "There's a real impetus on the part of the Chinese government to make this work. I'm sure the government is going to try to show that the boycott has had no effect." And while her comment might still anger filmgoers in Hong Kong, where the recent live-action Aladdin took in $8 million, that market is tiny compared to the mainland (total 2019 Hong Kong box office was $245 million compared with China's $9.2 billion). "Most people outside Hong Kong have likely forgotten about this controversy," says Rosen. "But the Chinese government does not forget these things."

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/2020/02/rrosales_thr_mulan_0602_v3-embed_2020_thr.jpg
Photographed by Ramona Rosales
Liu (left) and Caro were photographed Feb. 8 at the Houdini Estate in Los Angeles. On Caro: UNTTLD top and pants (courtesy of Neiman Marcus, Beverly Hills); ATM Anthony Thomas Melillo bodysuit; Tamara Mellon shoes; David Webb earrings. Liu: Giambattista Valli gown; Chopard earrings.

The fact that this version of Mulan is a large-scale war epic inspired more by the ancient Chinese ballad than the original animated film may also help win fans in Beijing, but the choice carries its own significant risks: The film needs to satisfy Chinese audiences raised on the legend while not disappointing a generation of fans in Asia (and elsewhere) for whom the animated film is foundational. "People would come in to audition and would say, 'Sorry, I know this is really unprofessional, but before I start, I just want you to know, the animated movie was the first time I saw someone that looked like me speak English in a movie theater,' " says producer Jason Reed. "The stakes couldn't be higher."

continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/2020/02/pho-14030_r2-embed_2020.jpg
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.
"I told [director] Niki [Caro] that I really want to show Mulan's complexity," says Liu. "What made her to choose her path? Was she afraid, was she hesitant?"

Mulan also represents a leap of faith in the film's director, Caro, whose previous two films boasted budgets of about 10 percent of Mulan's (The Zookeeper's Wife and Disney's 2015 sports drama McFarland USA were each in the $20 million to $25 million range). Caro, 53, was not Disney's first choice. Before hiring the New Zealand filmmaker, the studio targeted directors of Asian descent, including Taiwanese Oscar winner Ang Lee (he was busy promoting Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk) and Chinese helmer Jiang Wen. Still, Caro showcased a knack for representing cultures outside of her own with her 2002 debut Whale Rider, which follows a young Maori girl who wants to become chief, a role traditionally reserved for men.

The feminist story of Mulan resonated deeply with Caro. "When I first started wanting to be a filmmaker, there was so little precedent for women doing this [big studio] work," she says. She has now directed the most expensive live-action film by a woman, joining only a handful (Kathryn Bigelow, Ava DuVernay and Patty Jenkins) who have helmed films costing more than $100 million. "Patty changed the game with Wonder Woman. It was like a shot of adrenaline for me as a filmmaker," says Caro, who assembled a mostly female-led crew, including cinematographer Mandy Walker, costume designer Bina Daigeler, makeup designer Denise Kum and first assistant director Liz Tan.

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/2020/02/rrosales_thr_mulan_0385-embed_2020_thr.jpg
Photographed by Ramona Rosales
Caro struggled to find an actress to play Mulan. The global hunt began in October 2016, when Caro sent a team of casting directors to each continent and virtually every small village in China. "She's a needle in a haystack, but we were going to find her," says Caro. "It's impossible to make this movie without this person." Galvan gown; Cartier bracelet.

To those still upset that an Asian filmmaker didn't get the job, Caro responds: "Although it's a critically important Chinese story and it's set in Chinese culture and history, there is another culture at play here, which is the culture of Disney, and that the director, whoever they were, needed to be able to handle both — and here I am."

Soon after Caro's hiring, rumors about the movie began to swirl online. Years of studios centering Asian movies around white protagonists (from Scarlett Johansson's Ghost in the Shell to Matt Damon's The Great Wall) meant the threat of whitewashing loomed large. An early report online claimed that the first draft, penned by Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek, featured a white male protagonist.

"This is the first time I've been on a big touchstone movie with the internet what it is today. And I had a Google alert set, so I'd see these things, 'Oh, there was originally a white male lead, or they're casting Jennifer Lawrence,' and they were all just made up," says Reed, who adds that there may have been two non-Chinese characters in the initial script, but both were secondary roles.

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Photographed by Ramona Rosales
"I was determined that whoever played Mulan was not going to be fragile and feminine," says Caro. "She had to pass as a man in a man's army." On Caro: Galvan gown; Cartier bracelet. On Liu: Oscar de la Renta top and skirt; David Webb necklace; Irene Neuwirth necklace.

The rumors may have been unfounded, but the fallout was real: The Lawrence-as-Mulan story sparked a 2016 petition, "Tell Disney You Don't Want a Whitewashed Mulan!" drawing more than 110,000 signatures.

Ironically, as that rumor swirled, Caro struggled to find an actress to play Mulan. The global hunt began in October 2016, when Caro sent a team of casting directors to each continent and virtually every small village in China. They were looking for an actress who could play Mulan across three phases, from a young woman unsure of her place to a soldier masquerading as a man and, finally, as an empowered warrior. She had to be fluent in English, handle the physical demands of martial arts and deliver the more emotional moments with Mulan's family. "She's a needle in a haystack, but we were going to find her," says Caro. "It's impossible to make this movie without this person."

Though the studio cast a wide multinational net, Bill Kong — a veteran Chinese producer known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Monster Hunt who was brought on as a producer on Mulan — advised Caro that in order for this film to play well in China, not just anyone of Asian descent would work. "The first thing I told her was, 'Hire a Chinese girl. You can't hire a Japanese girl to do this,' " he says.

Actresses who made it past that initial audition were brought to Los Angeles, but, after vetting several promising candidates for months, Caro decided to start over. (The search dragged on for so long that Disney delayed the original November 2018 release date.) Eventually, Liu, who had been unavailable during the first pass because of a TV show in China, was able to audition.

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Photographed by Ramona Rosales
Liu took the 14-hour flight from Beijing to Los Angeles, and the next day auditioned for Caro, reading five different scenes. "She showed such commitment and range, and passion, intelligence, and emotion," says Caro. On Caro: Christian Siriano dress; Tamara Mellon shoes. On Liu: Carolina Herrera dress; Jimmy Choo shoes; Cartier earrings.

"I was determined that whoever played Mulan was not going to be fragile and feminine," says Caro. "She had to pass as a man in a man's army." So the director and a trainer put Liu through a 90-minute physical assessment, with extreme cardio and weight exercises. Other actresses fared less well. "Boy, did they flame out," says Caro with a laugh. But Liu "never complained once, never said, 'I can't.' She went to her limits."

With Liu, Disney also found an actress who could speak English, was familiar with martial arts from her TV work in China and, most importantly, was known to the Chinese market.

While Liu spent three months training for the role in New Zealand, Caro finished up her own extensive research. She took multiple trips to China and spoke to dozens of experts — including the world's foremost specialist on Tang dynasty military strategy. She also studied the 360-word Chinese poem The Ballad of Mulan, which first told the young heroine's story. The legend, which originated in the fifth or sixth century CE, is a tale as familiar in China as the story of Joan of Arc or Paul Bunyan in the West, and it's been adapted many times into plays, operas and films.

"I certainly wasn't aware of how deeply important it is to Mainland Chinese — all children are taught it," says Caro. "She is so meaningful that many places I went, people would say, 'Well, she comes from my village.' It was wonderful to feel that profound connection — but also terrifying."
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/2020/02/rrosales_thr_mulan_0978-embed_2020_thr.jpg
Photographed by Ramona Rosales
With Liu, Disney also found an actress who could speak English, was familiar with martial arts from her TV work in China and, most importantly, was known to the Chinese market. Giambattista Valli gown; Chopard earrings.

As soon as the first trailers rolled out, so did the grumblings about factual inaccuracy, like the choice to situate Mulan's family in a tulou, a traditional round structure that housed several clans. These homes were mostly present in southern China, in what is now Fujian province (Mulan is said to be from the north), and would not have existed at the time she lived.

"I told [Caro] to not be too concerned about the historical accuracy," says Kong. "Mulan, though very famous, is fictional. She's not a historical person."

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Courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.
"I don’t build the muscles for the look, for the shape," says Liu (pictured on set with Caro) of her physically training. "I really do it because I can run faster, because I can really trust in my body, in my emotion that I am a warrior and that’s all that matters."

Disney tested the film thoroughly with Chinese audiences, including its own local executives. In an early version, Mulan kissed love interest Chen Honghui (Yoson An) on a bridge when they were about to part. "It was very beautiful, but the China office went, 'No, you can't, that doesn't feel right to the Chinese people,' " says Caro. "So we took it out."

Caro and the writers, Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa (the husband-and-wife team behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Jurassic World who rewrote the original script), also had to consider the passionate fans of the 1998 film. Most Disney remakes, like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, have remained loyal to the tone and structure of the animated source material while adding a new song or character. Departing from that formula wasn't a swift decision. "We had a lot of conversations about it," says Reed. Ultimately they wanted "to tell this story in a way that is more real, more relatable, where we don't have the benefit of the joke to hide behind things that might be uncomfortable and we don't break into song to tell us the subtext."

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/2020/02/pho-10850_r-embed_2020.jpg
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Liu moved to New Zealand for three months to prepare for the film. She’d begin each day with two hours of cardio, flexibility and endurance training. Then she’d do an hour of horse-riding training, an hour of dialect training in the afternoon and choreography and fight training to end the day.

They swapped the musical numbers and funny animal sidekicks for a large-scale war epic in which Mulan takes her father's place in the Imperial Army. "It's a woman's story that has been told for centuries but never by women, and we felt like it was really time to tell that story," says Silver. The question is whether Generation Z and millennials, who fell in love with these animated tales as kids and helped boost Aladdin to its $1 billion global haul, will embrace the direction. "To be honest, we really go by our gut and what creatively excites the team here," says Bailey. "I think it shows that there can be different approaches to these [movies] that have validity."

When word leaked that Mushu, the silly dragon sidekick (originally voiced by Eddie Murphy), would not be included, some fans expressed disappointment on social media. But the character's disappearance makes sense in the Chinese context. "Mushu was very popular in the U.S., but the Chinese hated it," says Rosen. "This kind of miniature dragon trivialized their culture."

Unlike its Marvel-branded films, Disney live-action movies must appeal to significantly younger audiences. Yet Caro wanted to make a real war movie. "You have to deliver on the war of it," she says, "and how do you do that under the Disney brand where you can't show any violence, gratuitous or otherwise?" She took advantage of the film's stunning locations, like setting a battle sequence in a geothermal valley, where steam could mask the fighting. "Those sequences, I'm proud of them. They're really beautiful and epic — but you can still take kids. No blood is shed. It's not Game of Thrones."

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/2020/02/pho-09347_r-embed_2020.jpg
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.
"My sets aren't macho in the way sets generally are because I'm female and that's the source of my strength," says Caro, with actor Tzi Ma on the set of Mulan.

Disney's past live-action performance in China is a mixed bag. Both The Lion King ($120.5 million there) and Jungle Book ($148 million) enjoyed strong showings. Aladdin earned only $53 million, while 2017's Beauty and the Beast took in just $84 million (though it earned $1.3 billion worldwide).

Of course, the expectations for Mulan in China are much higher. "They will eventually release it in China," Dergarabedian notes. "It's just a matter of when and what effect that might have." Some analysts forecast that the film could match the success of the Kung Fu Panda series. The third movie, released in 2016, earned north of $144.2 million and became the country's biggest animated film ever. It was praised for being a Hollywood film that understood and showed respect toward the Chinese culture. Panda, however, had the advantage of being a Chinese co-production, which guarantees a larger share of the market — an advantage Mulan doesn't have.

Caro thinks about the film's fate there in more than simply financial terms. "Of course it's vitally important that it succeeds in China," she says, "because it belongs to China."



Ramona Rosales
This story first appeared in the Feb. 26 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

I've been invited to a screener opening week so there will be a review. Plus I dedicated my Fast Forward to the Fight Scenes column for the SPRING 2020 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=1535) entirely to Mulan.

[GeneChing]

Donnie Yen's martial arts skills made my jaw drop, says Mulan director (https://www.asiaone.com/entertainment/donnie-yens-martial-arts-skills-made-my-jaw-drop-says-mulan-director?fbclid=IwAR1pHBVe62rrkBrfBD5y2J9JSyJZkAHT yRQBlT63bF42oBYhcmgADRsfldY)
MARCH 03, 2020
By BRYAN LIMASIAONE

https://www.asiaone.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_main_image/public/original_images/Mar2020/niki-donnie_YT-disney.jpg?itok=yJ0tFWF6
Donnie Yen (left) as Commander Tung and director Niki Caro.
Disney, Screengrab from YouTube/Walt Disney Studios

Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen may have left his iconic Ip Man role behind, but he's still kicking ass and taking names.

In his new role as Commander Tung in Disney's live-action movie Mulan, his prowess with a sword left director Niki Caro gobsmacked. She told AsiaOne via email that her jaw "hit the floor" after she witnessed his brilliant display with the weapon.

https://www.asiaone.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/donnieyen-mulan_YT_0.jpg
Donnie Yen as Commander Tung in Mulan. PHOTO: Screengrab from YouTube/Walt Disney Studios

Caro, 53, recounted: "One of my favourite moments on set was the first time I experienced Donnie Yen's martial arts skills in real life. As Commander Tung, he does a sword display in front of all the recruits and my jaw hit the floor.

"The way that man moves, and the way he moves his sword — (it was) so fast I literally couldn't see it move in real time. I had to shoot the sequence again in slow motion, just so I could see what he was doing. It was astonishing!"

For the adaptation of the beloved 1998 Disney animated hit, the filmmaker has assembled some of the biggest Asian names in showbiz. Aside from Donnie, heavy hitters such as Jet Li, Gong Li, and Cheng Pei-pei are also part of the production, and Caro found the experience of working with an extraordinary cast of "almost entirely ethnically Chinese representing the breadth of Chinese experience" to be a dream.

https://www.asiaone.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/jetli-gongli-mulan_disney.jpg
Jet Li as the Emperor and Gong Li as a powerful witch. PHOTO: Disney

She added: "Jet Li brought gravitas and heart to the role of the Emperor. Working with Gong Li on a character that's a counterpoint to Mulan was a creative highlight of working on this film. Cheng Pei-pei's brilliant comedic timing provides a fun wink and a nod for the fans of the animated classic."

As for the titular heroine, Caro asserted that no one else could have inhabited the role apart from Chinese actress Liu Yifei. Not only did Yifei embody the physicality and tenacity of Mulan, she also "raised the bar and inspired all of us".

Caro explained: "During the first round of casting, we did an extensive tour of China and found some young women that were amazing, but I never felt that we'd truly found our warrior. A year later, Yifei came to Los Angeles to meet with me, and ended up in the audition room with absolutely no sleep.

"She was required to do five dialogue scenes, one of which was five pages long, but she never faltered. I saw immediately how strong of an actor she is. Then we sent her to a gruelling physical assessment. Again, she never complained. She never quit. I knew I had found my warrior."

'CULTURAL AUTHENTICITY WAS DISCUSSED AT EVERY STEP'

Stepping in as director for a film that's culturally significant to those of Chinese descent meant Caro had to convince naysayers before her work even started, as she is of Western descent and hails from New Zealand. However, she is confident in her ability to surpass the cultural barrier based on her previous works.

With previous projects like McFarland USA (a film adaptation of the true story of a Mexican-American cross country team) and Whale Rider (a film about a Maori girl who proves to the men in her tribe and her grandfather that she can be a leader), Caro maintained that she's dedicated to "authenticity" and "collaborating across communities" to deliver "epic films with deep cultural roots".

https://www.asiaone.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/mulan-location1_disney.jpg
One of the locations featured in Mulan. PHOTO: Disney

And it was the same approach she took with Mulan.

"Cultural authenticity was discussed at every step of the process. My approach was to steep myself in research and surround myself with a diverse creative team representing different perspectives on Chinese identity, culture, and people. This influenced every aspect of production, leading to authentic cultural celebration and perspective," she explained.

To honour the ballad and the Chinese culture, the research process started during the writing of the script and continued through to pre-production, production and post-production. The script was also workshopped with "a diverse group of Chinese diasporic writers" whose notes and perspectives were incorporated.

https://www.asiaone.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/niki-tzima_disney.jpg
Caro (left) and Hong Kong-American actor Tzi Ma on set. PHOTO: Disney

Caro revealed that each department conducted deep research into Chinese culture, painting, history, and accounts of war, so that every detail was as authentic as possible. She said: "We researched matchmaking services, trading along the Silk Road, and the incredible beauty and diversity of China. We took the responsibility of telling this story authentically so seriously."

WHY NO MUSHU?

When details of the live-action film were announced, fans of the animated classic were dismayed to hear that the adaptation had several major differences - such as the removal of songs and characters like Captain Li Shang (Mulan's love interest) and her dragon companion Mushu.

In a recent interview with Collider, producer Jason Reed explained that Li Shang was removed in light of the #MeToo movement because they felt it was uncomfortable and inappropriate to have a commanding officer who is also a sexual love interest. Instead, the character has been split into Mulan's mentor Commander Tung and Honghui, her "equal in the squad".

https://www.asiaone.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/liuyifei-yoson_disney.jpg
Liu Yifei (left) as Mulan and Yoson An as Honghui. PHOTO: Disney

As for the songs, Caro previously said that the music from the 1998 film will be honoured in a "very significant" way. It was also recently reported that Reflection singer Christina Aguilera has recorded new material for the movie, including a new take on the iconic ballad.

But when it came to Mushu, Caro explained to us that his removal was to make certain elements of the animated classic "more relevant for audiences today".

Caro added: "But we still love the humour and companionship for Mulan that he brought to the animated classic, so we found those traits in some new characters. We hope the fans will enjoy this new take!"

Mulan opens in Singapore on March 26.

THREADS
Mulan (2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Donnie Yen: Uber Awesome !! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?58046-Donnie-Yen-Uber-Awesome-!!)

[GeneChing]

Who makes up these predictive stats? Are they ever on the mark? :rolleyes:


BOX OFFICE MARCH 5, 2020 8:44AM PT
Box Office: ‘Mulan’ Eyes Huge $85 Million-Plus Opening Weekend (https://variety.com/2020/film/box-office/disney-mulan-box-office-opening-weekend-tracking-1203524872/)
By REBECCA RUBIN
News Editor, Online
@https://twitter.com/rebeccaarubin

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/mulan.jpg?w=887&h=499&crop=1
CREDIT: NULL
Despite fears that coronavirus could impact moviegoing across the globe, Disney’s “Mulan” is expected to pull off solid opening weekend ticket sales at the domestic box office.

According to early estimates, the live-action remake should collect $85 million when it debuts in U.S. theaters on March 27, though some tracking services predict that number could reach above $90 million. The higher end of that range would put it in the company of the studio’s recent “Aladdin” reboot, which debuted to $91.5 million last May.

“Mulan” cost $200 million to make, meaning it’ll need to bank on global appeal to turn a profit. That could prove problematic since theaters in China, where “Mulan” was expected to strongly resonate, have been closed due to threats of coronavirus. So far, the U.S. box office doesn’t appear to be threatened by the novel virus that’s infected and killed thousands.

Though coronavirus has already hurt the movie business in China, South Korea and Italy, Disney has no plans to alter the release date for “Mulan.” However, a studio spokesperson said the film will open in certain foreign markets at a later date. It was announced on Wednesday that the launch of the James Bond movie “No Time to Die” would be postponed, from April to November, because so many multiplexes are closed in areas like China, where the disease has been the most prevalent. So far, no other major movies have plans to postpone or alter release plans.

Niki Caro directed “Mulan,” which stars Chinese actress Liu Yifei as the eponymous heroine. Like the original animated version, “Mulan” centers on a warrior who disguises herself as a man to spare her elderly father from having to serve in the army. It’s the first of Disney’s live-action remakes to be rated PG-13, due to sequences of violence. The non-PG rating could limit younger audiences from buying tickets.

Disney’s live-action remakes have debuted to mostly huge commercial success. “The Lion King,” “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast” all cracked $1 billion at the global box office, while “The Jungle Book” grossed over $950 million. However, “Dumbo” ended its theatrical run with $353 million worldwide, disappointing receipts — if only by Disney’s standards.

THREADS
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Coronavirus (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

NEWS MARCH 6, 2020 6:00AM PT
Christina Aguilera Releases New ‘Mulan’ Song, Has ‘Reflection’ Reboot on Deck (https://variety.com/2020/music/news/christina-aguilera-mulan-songs-reflection-loyal-brave-true-1203525917/)
By CHRIS WILLMAN
Music Writer
@https://twitter.com/ChrisWillman

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/shutterstock_editorial_10481442hl-e1583500116458.jpg?w=1000&h=551&crop=1
CREDIT: CHELSEA LAUREN/SHUTTERSTOCK

Although the new remake of “Mulan” isn’t a musical like the original, one key music component from Disney’s animated version is back. Christina Aguilera has done her own remake of “Reflection,” which was her first single when she recorded it for the 1998 film. It’s joined on the forthcoming “Mulan” soundtrack (out March 25) by a newly written song, “Loyal Brave True,” which was released to digital services Friday.

News of the two fresh recordings was confirmed in an announcement Friday, although Aguilera had already let the “Reflection” cat out of the bag to attendees of at least one of her Las Vegas residency shows last week as she introduced her live rendition of the 22-year-old tune.

“Loyal Brave True” was written by Jamie Hartman, Harry Gregson-Williams, Rosi Golan and Billy Crabtree; Hartman produces. Gregson-Williams, who also wrote the new movie’s instrumental score, is the producer of “Reflection (2020).” The director of the new “Mulan,” Niki Caro, has directed music videos for both songs that Disney says will be out later in March. Gregson-Williams’ score is said to incorporates instrumental elements from both Aguilera tunes.


The original “Reflection” did not make any charts when it was released in 1998, but the popularity of the animated “Mulan” still put it — and Aguilera — on the map, so that she was a known quantity, especially to a demographic of young girls, when she broke through with her first radio smash, “Genie in a Bottle,” a year later, in the glory days of teen-pop.

“The film ‘Mulan’ and the song ‘Reflection’ coincided with getting me my first record deal,” Aguilera pointed out in a statement. “It’s amazing to come back to such an incredible movie that’s full of power and meaning, and that meaning holds the test of time: staying true to yourself, being who you are, and teaching how to be fearless. My new song, ‘Loyal Brave True,’ represents the fine balance between vulnerability and strength.”

Said Mitchell Leib, president of music and soundtracks for Walt Disney Studios, “Her original performance of ‘Reflection’ from the animated film when she was a then 16-year-old unknown holds its appropriate place in the history of music and was a launch pad for her unparalleled career that would follow. … I think these songs will touch today’s moviegoers in that powerful way we saw 22 years ago.”

Prior to making “Reflection” part of her Las Vegas residency, Aguilera had sung it last year at Disney’s D23 Expo 2019 Legends awards ceremony, where she accepted an award (see video below).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylxgQdxSNEU&feature=emb_logo
continued next post

[GeneChing]

Aguilera’s original 1998 recording of “Reflection” (written, like the rest of the animated film’s song score, by David Zippel and Matthew Wilder):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JUG5tEftuM&feature=emb_logo
I forgot about this song.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo8gX1Evay8

THREADS
Mulan (2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Kung-Fu Music (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?36569-Kung-Fu-Music)

[GeneChing]

Boycott Mulan, anyone? Brie Larson, The Rock face backlash after tweeting support for Disney film starring Crystal Liu Yifei (https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3074270/boycott-mulan-anyone-brie-larson-rock-face-backlash-after)
Hollywood stars’ social media posts looking forward to release of Disney’s Mulan, starring Crystal Liu Yifei, prompt acid response from Hong Kong internet users
That’s because in August, the Chinese-American actress voiced support for Hong Kong police – accused of acts of brutality – amid anti-government protests
SCMP Reporter
Published: 4:11pm, 9 Mar, 2020

https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/d8/images/methode/2020/03/09/54ad632a-61d2-11ea-8e9f-2d196083a37c_image_hires_161131.jpg?itok=MWOqwch2&v=1583741516
Workers man a promotional stand for the Disney move Mulan in an almost empty shopping mall in Beijing. The film’s release in China and Hong Kong has been postponed amid the coronavirus outbreak. Some Hong Kong film fans are unlikely to welcome its eventual release. Photo: AFP

Hollywood stars Brie Larson and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson became the latest focus of Hong Kong’s anti-government protesters after showing their enthusiastic support for the upcoming movie Mulan on social media.
Disney’s live-action remake of the popular 1998 animated film has been a lightning rod for many Hong Kong cinema-goers – and the target of a boycott campaign – since August 2019, when the film’s Chinese-American star Crystal Liu Yifei voiced support for the Hong Kong police, frequently accused of using excessive force and perpetrating brutality on citizens during the increasingly violent protests.
So when Larson, best known for her portrayal of the superhero Captain Marvel and her Oscar-winning role in Room , showed her passionate anticipation for Mulan on Friday, many Hong Kong internet users were swift to respond.
Under Larson’s tweet, “I cannot wait to see this movie. Every trailer has made me burst into tears.”, one of the most liked replies reads, “You know what makes Hong Kongers burst into tears every night? #HKPoliceBrutality, a #HumanRightsViolations that #Mulan lead actress #LiuYifei openly supports.”



Brie Larson
✔
@brielarson
· Mar 5, 2020
I cannot wait to see this movie. Every trailer has made me burst into tears. https://twitter.com/thr/status/1235601603027259392 …


The Hollywood Reporter
✔
@THR
Disney's #Mulan is targeting a heroic U.S. debut of $85 million or more, according to early tracking http://thr.cm/eIKycg0


#SOSHK Fight for Hong Kong
@Fight4HongKong
You know what makes Hong Kongers burst into tears every night?#HKPoliceBrutality, a #HumanRightsViolations that #Mulan lead actress #LiuYifei openly supports.#BoycottMulan

Embedded video
705
12:26 AM - Mar 8, 2020
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268 people are talking about this
Another reply reads: “Disney is bursting into tears tooCrying face #LiuYifei has single handedly ruined the box office. Her decision to disrespect #HumanRights and openly supporting #China backed #PoliceBrutality in HK … well … led to big time #BoycottMulan.”
Dwayne Johnson has been attracting similar feedback after he tweeted on Friday, “Been waiting for this one! Pumped to see it! Great job team @asadayaz”. Asad Ayaz is the president of marketing of the Walt Disney Studios.



Dwayne Johnson
✔
@TheRock
· Mar 5, 2020
Been waiting for this one! Pumped to see it! Great job team @asadayaz
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mulan-tracking-heroic-85m-us-bow-1282674 …


https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1235600898572701698/8QgRpo2b?format=jpg&name=600x314
'Mulan' Tracking for Heroic $85M-Plus U.S. Opening
Disney's latest live-action remake of a classic animated movie opens in late March.

hollywoodreporter.com

Lai King
@laiking7394
Mulan actress Liu Yifei supports police brutality in Hong Konghttps://time.com/5653973/mulan-boycott-liu-yifei/ …

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1236131030081265669/f8kGpA9h?format=jpg&name=600x314
Here's What to Know About the Mulan Boycott
The actor playing Mulan in Disney's live-action reboot was met with a backlash after voicing support for the Hong Kong police

time.com
55
1:50 PM - Mar 5, 2020
Twitter Ads info and privacy
See Lai King's other Tweets
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong branch of Walt Disney Studios has announced that the film’s release in the city, slated for March 26, had been postponed until further notice. “We will announce a new release date soon, depending on the situation surrounding Covid-19. Please stay tuned,” read a statement from the studio, referring to the global coronavirus epidemic.
finance
Unlike those in mainland China, Hong Kong cinemas have remained open throughout the epidemic; in the coming two weeks, at least 10 new films are scheduled to open in the city. Asked for comment on the postponement of Mulan’s release in Hong Kong, Disney’s Hong Kong office declined to add to its earlier statement.

THREADS
Mulan (2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
covid-19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)
Hong Kong protests (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23536-Hong-Kong-protests)

[GeneChing]

Crystal killin it. :cool:



Mulan Star Liu Yifei’s Hollywood Red Carpet Debut Was Fit for a Disney Princess (https://www.vogue.com/article/mulan-disney-princess-liu-yifei-elie-saab-couture)
BY JANELLE OKWODU
March 10, 2020

https://assets.vogue.com/photos/5e6803967ba087000844f3b5/master/w_2560%2Cc_limit/00-post-header.jpg
Photo: Getty Images

Who doesn’t love a little Disney magic? The studio that brought the world classic cartoons like The Lion King and The Little Mermaid continues to update its library through live-action remakes. Last night in Hollywood, the world got a preview of its latest, an action-packed retelling of Mulan directed by Whale Rider scribe, Niki Caro. The world premiere served as a coming-out party for the film’s star, Liu Yifei, who shined bright in a look from Elie Saab's fall/winter 19 couture collection. Already a significant celebrity in Asia, the Chinese-American actress and singer beat out thousands for the lead role, and in Saab’s voluminous “phoenix dress,” it’s easy to understand why. The gown with its miles of gold brocade, built-in corset, and impressive beadwork was a magical creation, one that required charisma. A less confident wearer would be overshadowed by the expansive train and embroidered mythological creatures, but Yifei pulled it off beautifully.

https://assets.vogue.com/photos/5e680665b6743d0008c1287f/master/w_1280%2Cc_limit/00-full-length.jpg
Photo: Getty Images

Disney’s leading ladies often draw inspiration from its onscreen traditions; when Lily James debuted Cinderella in 2015, she too went for a Saab-designed couture piece in ice blue to mirror the wardrobe of her famous character. Likewise, Elle Fanning spent much of her Maleficent promo in frothy Rodarte looks of which Sleeping Beauty would approve. Even, Aladdin’s Naomi Scott, a fan of daring labels like Richard Quinn and JW Anderson, went full princess in bubblegum pink Brandon Maxwell at the film's premiere last year. Yifei and stylist, Samantha McMillan, were also influenced by fairy tales, but the phoenix motif added a thoughtful nod to Chinese culture. A symbol of grace and harmony, it has been featured in artwork since the neolithic period and remains popular.

Even without the symbolism, Yifei's gown packs a visual punch. Heavy on the sequins, sparkle, and Saab's signature beading, it made for a dazzling entrance and a fashion moment worthy of a Disney princess. The phoenix is in the trailer...:rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020)) is still on at this point. I'm scheduled to go to the screener soon.


Hollywood Coronavirus Cancellations: A List of Film, TV, and Entertainment Events Impacted By Pandemic (https://www.slashfilm.com/hollywood-coronavirus-cancellations/)
Posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2020 by Ethan Anderton

https://d13ezvd6yrslxm.cloudfront.net/wp/wp-content/images/hollywood-coronavirus-combo.jpg

The coronavirus strain known as COVID-19 isn’t going away anytime soon, and the spread of the infection has already been classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. This has resulted in the cancellation and postponing of many major film, TV and entertainment events around the world, as well as shutting down certain film and TV productions, or at the very least changing how they operate. Because the updates are coming so fast and fierce, we’ll be keeping an updated list as new coronavirus cancellations and interruptions are announced each day.

Coronavirus Cancellations (Constantly Updated)
We will update this list as required. The dates signify when the cancellation took place with information gathered from various sources, including and especially USA Today and IndieWire, who have been keeping track of the ongoing cancellations and delays.


March 12
Fast and Furious 9 (F9) Release Delayed to 2021 – Universal Pictures has decided to delay the global release of Fast and Furious 9 by an entire year. It is now slated to open in April 2, 2021 in North America, but specific international dates were not revealed at this time.

The Lovebirds Release Delayed – Variety reports Paramount Pictures has delayed the romantic comedy The Lovebirds starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae. Originally slated for release on April 3, the movie now has new release date.

A Quiet Place Part II Release Delayed – The worldwide release of A Quiet Place II was reported by Deadline. Originally intended for release overseas starting on March 18 and in the US on March 20, but the movie has yet to be given a new release date. Get more in our full story.

Scott C’s Great Showdowns Gallery Events Canceled – Scott C’s latest art show at Gallery 1988 is canceling all in-gallery events, as well as a planned global scavenger hunt for prints, but will still have scheduled print releases and livestreams.

Universal Television Delays Production on Shows – Deadline reports the second seasons of Netflix’s Russian Doll and AppleTV+’s Little America, as well as the first season of Rutherford Falls for Peacock, have all been delayed due to coronavirus concerns. Most of the shows require international travel, which is largely why the decision was made to delay production start.

Broadway Usher Tests Positive for Coronavirus – A part-time Broadway usher who worked at the productions of Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? at the Booth Theatre between March 3 and March 7 and Six at the Brooks Atkinson on the evening of February 25 and the afternoon of March 1 has tested positive for coronavirus.

Both of the productions will continue, according to Deadline, and the two theater owners, Shubert Organization, owner of the Booth, and the Nederlander Organization, owner of the Brooks Atkinson, said the venues will have a deep cleaning performed. However, if any ticket holders wish to exchange for a future performance instead, they may do so.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

March 11
California Governor Urges Cancellation of Large Gatherings – The Los Angeles Times reported that California Governor Gavin Newsom and state health official are recommending and urging the cancellation of upcoming gatherings of 250 or more people across the entire state in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. This recommendation does not come with the force of law to stop these events, but that could change if the coronavirus situation continues to get worse.

Hollywood Agencies and Companies Starting to Work Remotely – Deadline reports Hollywood talent agencies like CAA, UTA, ICM Partners and Paradigm are making adjustments to have their employees work from home in order to help slow the spread of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Viacom, who owns Paramount Pictures, MTV, Comedy Central and more, said they will start testing whether or not they can have their employees also working from home instead of going into offices at this time.

Cinema Con 2020 Canceled – Variety reported the cancellation of CinemaCon 2020, the annual trade show for theater owners from around the world where the latest developments and advances in exhibition, distribution, marketing, publicity, advertising, social media, theater equipment and concessions are showcased. The event was slated to take place from March 30 through April 2.

Here’s the official statement from John Fithian and Mitch Newhauser from the National Association of Theater Owners:

“It is with great regret we are announcing the cancellation of CinemaCon 2020. Each spring, motion picture exhibitors, distributors and industry partners from around the world meet in Las Vegas to share information and celebrate the moviegoing experience. This year, due to the travel ban from the European Union, the unique travel difficulties in many other areas of the world and other challenges presented by the Coronavirus pandemic, a significant portion of the worldwide motion picture community is not able to attend CinemaCon. While local outbreaks vary widely in severity, the global circumstances make it impossible for us to mount the show that our attendees have come to expect. After consultation with our attendees, trade show exhibitors, sponsors, and studio presenters, NATO has decided therefore to cancel CinemaCon 2020. We look forward to continuing the 10-year tradition of presenting the largest movie theater convention in the world and joining our attendees in future celebrations of the moviegoing experience.”

PaleyFest 2020 Postponed – The annual television showcase of some of the biggest and best television shows has been postponed with new dates for the festival yet to be announced. Shows like Modern Family, The Mandalorian, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Boys, Star Trek: Picard, Schitt’s Creek, and more were slated to be featured at the festival, but they will have to wait for the event to be rescheduled. Here’s the full statement from the Paley Center for Media:

“As you are aware, the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to remain of the utmost public concern. For several weeks now, the Paley Center, along with our venue host, The Dolby Theatre, has monitored the situation closely, staying in daily contact with local, state, and federal partners, as well as following the recommendations issued by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and following the guidelines of the local health department. Based on the most recent news and out of an abundance of concern, we have made the difficult decision to postpone this year’s PaleyFest. While we were looking forward to presenting another stellar lineup of PaleyFest events, the safety of our event participants, guests, and staff is the highest priority. We are exploring options to reschedule the festival and all ticket purchases will be honored for the new dates.”

NBA Suspended 2019-20 Basketball Season – The NBA announced the suspension of the current season of basketball after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The news came just before the Utah Jazz were set to play an away game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Gameplay will be suspended entirely until further notice and will determine when they can resume play as the coronavirus situation develops.

Talk Shows Avoid Having Studio Audiences – Deadline confirmed New York’s late night network talk shows The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah will not have studio audiences for their tapings. In addition, cable talk shows Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and Watch What Happens with Andy Cohen will follow suit.

Los Angeles talk shows have not announced any sweeping changes to their recording plans yet with live audiences, but The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The View and Live With Kelly And Ryan will not film with audiences either. Conan is currently on a two-week hiatus, but their filming plans could easily change in the future.

Riverdale Production Suspended – Production on The CW series was suspended after a person working on the show was recently in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Warner Bros. TV told Deadline:

“We are working closely with the appropriate authorities and health agencies in Vancouver to identify and contact all individuals who may have come into direct contact with our team member,” the statement continued. “The health and safety of our employees, casts and crews is always our top priority. We have and will continue to take precautions to protect everyone who works on our productions around the world.”

Survivor Production Delayed – CBS has delayed the production of the next two seasons of Survivor. As of now the premiere dates for those seasons in September 2020 and February 2021 have not been delayed, but that could change if the production does not begin with enough time to spare. Read our full story on the matter over here

HBO’s Night of Too Many Stars Postponed – USA Today reported the event hosted by Jon Stewart and presented by HBO in partnership with NEXT for AUTISM has been pushed back. The show was slated to take place on April 18 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. No new date has been set yet.

Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards Postponed – Variety reported annual awards show from Nickelodeon where kids pick their favorite movies, TV shows, movie stars, musicians and more has been postponed until further notice. No new date has been set yet.

E3 (The Electronic Entertainment Expo) Canceled – Kotaku reported the tradeshow for video games slated to take place from June 9 through June 11 has been canceled. In place of the event, there will be “an online experience to showcase industry announcements and news in June 2020.”

GLAAD Awards Canceled – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced the cancellation of their awards intended to take place on March 19. It’s not clear if thy will be rescheduled.

Adam Sandler Postpones March Comedy Tour Dates – In a post to Twitter, the comedian announced that March tour dates would be postponed until a later time. It is not clear when they will be rescheduled and more dates could be canceled.

March 10
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Production Halted – The Marvel Studios series was slated to shoot an entire week in Prague, but they stopped before finishing due to spreading coronavirus concerns. It is not clear when and where production will finish the scenes meant to be shot there. Get more in our full story.

Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway Release Delayed – Deadline reported the global release of the children’s movie sequel has been pushed back to August 7 by Sony Pictures.

Game Shows Filming Without Audiences – Deadline reported Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune announced they would be taping episodes without live studio audiences, especially since much of the audiences of those shows consists of older viewers more susceptible to coronavirus.

March 6
SXSW Festival Canceled – The movie, TV, music and tech festival was canceled by the city of Austin one week before the event was slated to begin on March 13. Festival organizers may reschedule the festival, but the cancellation has created severe problems for them, and it might prevent the fest from returning in 2021.

March 4
No Time to Die Global Release Delayed – Sony Pictures made the decision to delay the global release of No Time to Die from April to November. The film will now open in the UK on November 12 and in the US on November 25. Read more in our full story over here.

February 24
Mission: Impossible 7 Production Halted in Italy – After the outbreak worsened significantly in Italy, USA Today reported Paramount Pictures chose to halt production on Mission: Impossible 7. It’s not clear when/if shooting will still take place there in the future.

THREADS
COVID-19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)
No Time to Die (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71114-No-Time-to-Die)
Mission Impossible (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68128-Mission-Impossible)
F&F9 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70501-Fast-amp-Furious-9)

[GeneChing]

Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020)) is still on at this point. I'm scheduled to go to the screener soon. Aw ******. I got my screener cancellation notification first thing this morning. :(


'Mulan' Release Pushed Back Amid Coronavirus Pandemic (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/mulan-release-pushed-back-coronavirus-pandemic-1284275)
MARCH 12, 2020 2:50PM by Mia Galuppo

The Disney movie was set to hit theaters in North America on March 27.

Disney is pushing the release of its upcoming live-action tentpole Mulan amid growing concerns around the coronavirus, the studio said Thursday. The movie was set to hit theaters in North America on March 27.

Also being pushed is the long-delayed New Mutants, which was due out April 3 via 20th Century Studios, and the Guillermo del Toro-produced Antlers, which was set for an April 17 release via Searchlight Pictures.

Disney is looking into new release dates for all of the titles later this year.

Mulan director Niki Caro posted on her personal instagram about the release date push, writing, "We are so excited to share this film with the world, but given the current ever-shifting circumstances we are all experiencing, unfortunately, we have to postpone the worldwide release of Mulan for now. Our hearts are with everyone the world over who is affected by this virus, and we hope that Mulan’s fighting spirit will continue to inspire those who are working so hard to keep us all safe."

Mulan is the latest studio release to be pushed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Universal postponed the ninth Fast & Furious film by a year, while Paramount dealyed the release of the Issa Rae-starring comedy The Lovebirds and A Quiet Place Part II.

While no theaters are yet closed in the U.S. because of the coronavirus, there is growing concern that some cinemas could go dark in areas where cases of COVID-19 are proliferating, or where business has slowed. That is in addition to the ongoing blackout on moviegoing in China. (Mulan did not yet have a Chinese release date.)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom late Wednesday recommended canceling or postponing gatherings of 250 or more people "at least through March" as the state grapples with the coronavirus outbreak. The recommendation directly impacts larger auditoriums, which may have to stagger seating.




The Hollywood Reporter
MIA GALUPPO
mia.galuppo@thr.com
@miagaluppo


THREADS
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
covid-19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

3.13.2020
AND THEN THEY CAME AFTER MULAN (http://blog.angryasianman.com/2020/03/and-then-they-came-after-mulan.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR0msifh5rT5-tof8aPEDC9v1q-i4DNyIsHEvnqc57uk24XBxY2JeWJpOqU)
And Other Things to Know From Angry Asian America.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-esEpSHJVpMQ/Xmxung4pseI/AAAAAAAAPmg/Zmop6k-ndVUUaDQ3gR9TKQ-35sO37x9oACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/toxicmadeinwuhan.jpg

So yeah, this happened.
This Mulan poster, spotted in Pasadena, California, was defaced with graffiti. If you can't make it out, that's a mask spray-painted on her face and the words "TOXIC. MADE IN WUHAN." Yes, I know there are people boycotting this movie because of Liu Yifei's remarks in support of Hong Kong police. This is not about that.

THREADS
Mulan (2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
covid-19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

...I stand with China on this one.


ASIA MARCH 13, 2020 7:57PM PT
China’s ‘Mulan’ Fans Welcome News Of Release Delay (https://variety.com/2020/film/news/china-mulan-delay-coronavirus-liu-yifei-gong-li-1203534355/)
By REBECCA DAVIS

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/yifei-liu.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
CREDIT: CHELSEA LAUREN/SHUTTERSTOCK

“Mulan” fans in mainland China on Friday welcomed the news that Disney will postpone the global release of the new live-action blockbuster, happy that they’ll likely now get the chance to see the film in theaters in sync with the rest of the world.

The new “Mulan” was scheduled to release worldwide outside of China, one of Disney’s most crucial overseas markets, on March 27. Chinese cinemas have been closed since late January due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Disney’s potentially costly decision to move ahead without China came despite the firm’s efforts to specifically cater to mainland audiences in its new retelling of the classic Chinese ballad, particularly in the decision to cast popular China-born starlet Liu Yifei as the titular heroine.

Chinese fans took to social media on Friday to express their relief that the film had been pulled — both for health reasons, and out of fears of piracy and spoilers as the last ones to get a theatrical release.

“Thank god!!!! Now I won’t be spoiled,” said one poster to China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform. Another enthused: “Finally they’ve pulled it! They should’ve done so long ago. Now everyone can watch it at the same time together.”

Most wrote of their support for the decision to prioritize health concerns. “Safety first! We’ll pull out the red carpet for the film at a better time,” wrote one commenter, adding: “Maybe now you can do the premiere in China?” The film had its initial U.S. debut in Hollywood on March 9.

By Friday evening, the Weibo hashtag “Mulan Global Release Cancelled” had been viewed 630 million times.

Disney released all four of its 2019 live action remakes in the mainland last year. China was the highest grossing overseas territory for October’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” ($48.8 million) and July’s “The Lion King” ($120 million), and the second largest foreign market for May’s “Aladdin” ($112 million) and March’s “Dumbo” ($21.9 million).

Directed by New Zealand’s Niki Caro, “Mulan” is most expensive live-action feature to ever be helmed by a woman, with a budget of at least $200 million. It will obviously be seeking to earn big in China, one of the world’s most censorious nations where these days, it’s hard for any cultural phenomenon to sidestep t***** politics.

Earlier, the film had come under fire after Liu publicly expressed support across all her social media channels for the Hong Kong police force accused of excessive violence in attempts to quell pro-democracy protests there, leading for some to call for a boycott of the title.

More recently, she’s come under fire on mainland social media from Chinese nationalist trolls who have criticized local fans for identifying with and taking pride in a star who technically gave up her Chinese nationality to gain a U.S. passport.

“Liu Yifei is too miserable — beyond the Great Firewall [of internet censorship] the pro-Hong Kongers smear her, and within the Great Firewall the nationalists smear her,” joked one Weibo commenter.

Some former detractors gave her credit, however, for openly saying on her promotional tour that she hails from Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic where the disease originated.

“She’s the only one who dares to say in front of the world media that she’s a Wuhan native, so I’m a fan of her. Domestically right now, how many from Wuhan would dare openly admit that’s where they’re from?” read one post. People from Wuhan have been subject to extreme stigma since the start of the virus. Particularly in the early, panic-striken days of the epidemic, many ended up outcasts shunned by their peers and neighbors, kept out of hotels and even specially tracked and registered by the authorities — even in other parts of the country.

Beyond “Mulan,” a growing list of other films have recently canceled their scheduled debuts due to coronavirus concerns, including Disney’s “New Mutants” and “Antlers,” Paramount’s “A Quiet Place 2” and “The Love Birds,” and Universal Studios’ “Fast & Furious 9.”

“Mulan” marks the third film starring Chinese superstar Gong Li to be pulled in almost as many months, after Lou Ye’s “Saturday Fiction” — which debuted at Venice — was pulled from its expected Chinese theatrical release in December, presumably for censorship reasons, and Peter Chan’s highly anticipated volleyball film “Leap” cancelled its Chinese new year sortie just as the coronavirus situation was heating up.

But many Chinese fans say that neither the virus nor the delay will dampen their enthusiasm for Mulan. “A good meal won’t spoil just because it’s served a bit late. A good film will always catch the world’s attention, whenever it comes out,” one wrote online.

THREADS
Mulan (2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
covid-19 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

HOLLYWOOD INSIDER
‘Mulan’ cast on women empowerment, racism and the COVID-19 pandemic (https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/showbiz/showbizabroad/729344/mulan-cast-on-women-empowerment-racism-and-the-corona-virus-epidemic/story/)
Published March 12, 2020 10:50am
By JANET SUSAN R. NEPALES

Los Angeles — Coming perfectly on the heels of the #MeToo movement and the cries for equal pay for women and women representation in the movie industry is the classic story of Mulan.

New Zealander filmmaker Niki Caro (“Whale Rider,” 2002) brings the epic tale of China’s legendary warrior to life in Disney’s “Mulan” which stars the 32-year-old actress Liu Yifei as the fearless female warrior who takes the place of her ailing father, masquerading as a man, and fighting against and with men.

Also starring Jet Li as the Emperor and Donnie Yen as Commander Tung, the movie is the live-action feature of the animated 1998 version where our very own Lea Salonga was the singing voice of Mulan.

Liu Yifei, who was born in Wuhan, Hubei, China, does a lot of action scenes in this version. Although also a singer, Liu does not sing in this movie. In fact, expect no singing from this live-action adaptation of the classic animated film.

After doing a lot of Chinese TV shows, Liu Yifei graduated to doing films like “The Forbidden Kingdom” (2008) with Jackie Chan and Jet Li and “The Assassins” (2012) with Chow Yun-Fat and “Outcast” (2014) with Nicolas Cage.

https://images.gmanews.tv/webpics/2020/03/640_MulanCast_2020_03_12_10_44_38.png
The cast of Disney's Mulan. Photo courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

Jet Li, 56, who was at one time considered the heir to the late Bruce Lee and who made films like the “Shaolin Temple” franchise and “The Expendables” (2010) with action stars Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke and Jason Statham, came out of retirement and returned to the big screen to play the Chinese emperor in “Mulan.”

On the other hand, Donnie Yen, 56, from Canton, China, is a martial arts master who got his first big break when he appeared with Jet Li in “Once Upon a Time in China II” and also teamed up with Jackie Chan in “Shanghai Knights” in 2003.

We recently interviewed these talented actors and director in downtown Los Angeles and below are excerpts of our conversations with them:

Liu Yifei

https://images.gmanews.tv/webpics/2020/03/640_MulanLiuYifei_2020_03_12_10_46_36.png
Liu Yifei at the premiere of Disney's Mulan. Photo courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

Why is it so important for you to do this version of this movie?

I’m so happy and thankful for this beautiful opportunity because I think it opens up my imagination and it really is telling me that I’m on the right path.

When they’re asking me what is your goal as an actress — this is a very big question — I always say, don’t limit yourself. And some people might not get what I say but I’m not that kind of person. And this is showing that I’m on my right path and I love acting so much I would never give up and I enjoy every moment. And I’m happy that Mulan as this character, she too, she never gives up, she had the courage to look deep inside herself and to make choices to be the best version of her.

When you were making the film, were you thinking of both American and Chinese audiences?

The process is you don’t think about it. I don’t know if Niki agrees with me or if you agree with me, but my own process is, I can’t think of the result because it’s just so pure, the passion for the movie. You have to lose yourself and throw yourself in that character so you can’t think of anything else.

But to the result, I think if it’s a good movie, if the character herself is convincing then for both countries or for the world, it’s the same.

It's a story where women are empowered but at the same time conveying traditions are much more ingrained in a patriarchal society. How do you combine that?

I totally agree. There is no definition for I love you therefore because. I love you just because I love you. For a daughter, as a father, as a lover, that is so…it’s really the same for everything. And I love the openness of the story; I love to discover all the possibilities in that story because even though I’m Chinese, even though I play different characters, each character for me is a brand new journey.

I learned Mulan too, it’s not just oh you’re from China, you know her. No, for this journey I had to learn all the conflict and every detail that’s in her mind. I’m trying to put the pictures together. And I think we can do great things without knowing and accept who we really are. If we embrace everything we have and we do, we are going to achieve more.

You are originally from Wuhan. Do you still have family there? Your thoughts?

Thank you so much for your care in asking. My grandma, she is still in Wuhan and she’s doing great, thank you. People are being really careful. They’re really aware of themselves and being careful for others too. For me, I just really hope that this will work out soon and things will get better everyday.

Who inspired you in your career?

It’s Stanislavski. I think all the actors really have to thank him for what he’s done all his life.

Can you tell us about the audition process you had to go through?

Even in my wildest dreams I never really imagined that I would work with a woman director who is talented in this scale of a big movie, that’s happening now. So if you ask me if I am nervous, of course I’m nervous.

But on the other hand, I had to ask myself: Why do you want to audition? Is it just because this is a huge movie, what do you want? So I asked for a script to look at and it took me one day, the whole day, to process.

And then even to audition I did my homework; I wrote down notes throughout the flight. And I’m so sure that it’s me…no, I’m going to bring the strength and the acting in that day. But all I can do is just throw myself in that experience. I can’t think of any results.

And then after that, I went through the physical training. It’s also very interesting. Everything I do they had to record. You’re like, ok, I did an ok audition, a good audition, I don’t want to ruin it with less pushups, you have to push yourself so hard. And every time I am done with something the trainer will write something on that book, this thick, writing specific things, I don’t know what he’s writing.

What kind of inner motivation did you find in yourself to justify the action of Mulan or to be Mulan? You have to have some experience in your life.

What you say is one point, experience of yourself but I’m looking for something that is present. Because memory itself, of course memory is important but it’s always something you already had.

To learn a new experience means a whole other group of new surprises. Every night when I do my homework for the character, throughout my way, and if I find something new that passion can get me through tomorrow’s whole day training. That’s just really inner strength and I love that I feel for, the emotion that I felt for the character would really push me through all the journey that I need for training or for shooting. That feeling is here in my heart.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

Niki Caro

https://images.gmanews.tv/webpics/2020/03/640_nikicaro_2020_03_12_10_46_06.jpg
Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

When you were making the film, do you have to think of both American and Chinese audiences?

My whole career I’ve made movies outside of my culture, beginning with “Whale Rider.” I’ve developed a way of working where I prioritize being authentic and being specific to that culture. I realize when I do that, it becomes universal.

It was very easy actually. With this movie, the first thing I did was go to China and experience that incredible country for the first time. Then across departments right through pre-production, production, even post-production, a deep research into the culture so that we could get as specific and authentic as possible.

Why is it so important for you to do this version of this movie?

For me, it was such a privilege to tell a story that’s been relevant for hundreds and hundreds of years, over a millennia really. To tell it in live action in 2020, to commit to the real journey of a young woman who goes to war to save her father’s life, disguises herself as a man and then commits to her own authentic power and fights as a woman, to tell that story now feels very relevant.

To be a female director who tells it now is even more relevant because like Mulan, I connected to my own power as a woman to tell it. I don’t disguise myself as a man to direct movies. I don’t direct movies as a man would. I direct them as a woman does.

There’s a line in the film that Gong Li’s character says to Mulan, "it’s impossible for a woman to be leading a man’s army." And I love that line. That line speaks to me because that’s my job; I lead a man’s army. But this army, and it was a mighty army, my filmmaker army, all my generals were women. So it’s a very female-lead storytelling and I’m so happy and satisfied and I was particularly so on International Women’s Day to have an example of what a movie looks like when it’s run by women. It looks like this, it’s this big, it’s this spectacular, the action is this adrenalized and it has I hope depth and emotion. I’m very proud of it.

You are telling a story where women are empowered but at the same time conveying traditions that are much more ingrained in a patriarchal society. How do you combine that?

What you define as patriarchal is also deeply cultural and historical and important for those reasons. Mulan brings honor to her family in very nontraditional ways. Her sister brings honor to the family in very traditional ways. So that’s the way we kept both in balance. Because I didn’t want to not honor Mulan’s sister’s journey either to be a traditional daughter in that time that is equally important.

Who inspired you in your career?

When I was a teenager, when I first wanted to make films, I couldn’t see anybody who looked like me that directed movies until Jane Campion. And I remain Jane Campion’s most loyal and devoted fan to this day because she not only looked like me, from the same part of the world, she saw like me.

And yesterday was so moving because we did a lot of TV interviews and we were interviewed many, many times by women and many times by Asian women. And it was so touching that they could see themselves in Mulan and “Mulan” was very meaningful to them. Now I think there’s a reason for that, of course “Mulan’s” always been there for all time but I think telling the story through a female lens, the story being told by somebody who looks like you, sees like you, feels like you, might be the difference here. And I’m very honored to have been allowed to tell it on this scale in this time.

Can you tell us about the audition process you had for finding your Mulan?

We searched the world for a year and we couldn’t find her. We searched all through China, couldn’t find her. So we started again. And Yifei was available and so we brought her to Los Angeles, she took a 14-hour flight from Beijing — worst jetlag in the world, FYI. She arrived in the evening and didn’t sleep that night. Thought she could sleep the next day because the audition wasn’t till 2, but the head of the studio asked her to come in and have a meeting so the poor thing, no sleep, had to wait around for me.

She did a two-hour audition in English; even though she speaks beautiful English it’s not her first language. Five scenes, one of those scenes five pages of dialogue and I was so impressed by her and I was so interested in how much she had to give so I kept exploring and pushing and pushing. And she was so fierce, so impressive as a dramatic actress and I was so indulgent because I was enjoying myself so much. So that took two hours.

And then we sent her to the other really critical part of the process, which was to send her into the gym with a personal trainer to do a punishing 90-minute workout that was designed to test her physical limits and to see whether she was the warrior that I needed. And she went through this whole process with jetlag, no sleep, Beijing, L.A., and never ever once asked to stop, never asked to take a break, never said I can’t do it, always did exactly what was asked of her and more.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

Jet Li

https://images.gmanews.tv/webpics/2020/03/640_jetli2_2020_03_12_10_45_34.jpg
Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

You've been in retirement for a long time. Why were you interested in doing this movie?

I didn’t want to take it, I turned it down. I said “Mulan” everybody knows, why make another one? In the beginning I heard of “Mulan,” then I know the end. I watched it a lot of times “Mulan,” everybody knows it, so how do you make everybody happy with a new “Mulan?” Then my daughter, 15 years old, she says, can you make the movie for me?

Then I called Donnie, did you take the job? He said I am still thinking about it. I don’t want to do it, but my daughter got me to do it, please think about it, when you decide, tell me. A few days later he called me and said oh, my daughter wants me to do it too, so we can just do it together for the daughters, for the next generation. That’s why I took the job, I’m so glad.

What is your reaction to the fact that Disney is not opening the movie in China because of the corona virus?

I always think, I am a little bit crazy, I always think about a big time, universe, humans, total family, living on the earth, I think it’s normal. Everything for me is normal, because we will have in our life a beautiful time, good time, for sure we will have a normal time and sometimes we have a difficult time. Right now is a difficult time for everybody and start there. We always need to help each other. We always need to work together. So this is not the only movie that is delayed, all the movies are delayed in Asia, not only China.

Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh are all into martial arts. Is it important for an actor to know that in order to be successful in China?

The first offer I got was when I was 11. They said come to the States, for a Kung-Fu demonstration and then go back, in 1974. In Hong Kong, they had said, Bruce Lee had just died the previous year, do you want to grow up and become him, become an action hero? I was 11, I said okay.

So then the movie company was waiting for me for five years, so when I was 16, they said do not wait any longer. We are giving you your first movie, “Shaolin Temple.” I think because I learned martial arts I also share a culture, a language. There are no borders. Today, not only Chinese people do martial arts. Using your body to tell a story is good.

Donnie Yen

https://images.gmanews.tv/webpics/2020/03/640_donnieyen_2020_03_12_10_45_50.jpg
Courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

Why were you interested in doing this movie?

One of the main reasons is my daughter. I have a special attachment to this particular subject, a female hero. My first martial arts teacher was my mother, We used to have a school. I used to live in Boston when I was a child and she used to have a martial arts school in Boston and she taught all sorts of students, from MIT professors to Harvard students. So she was my mentor. She used to get me up in the morning and use a wooden sword and whip me if I didn’t work out, I had to train before I went to school.

Secondly of course it’s my daughter, she’s 16 now, but she grew up watching the original “Mulan,” the cartoon one, probably over 100 times. I watched it with her, we sang the classic songs probably another hundred times.

Third reason was my wife, my partner, we run a production company in Hong Kong and she’s always been my friend, my soul mate and my boss. So I know firsthand what it’s like to, I think it’s important for a movie like “Mulan” because unfortunately there are still many places in the world where females do not have the same equal opportunities as the opposite gender unfortunately.

And I think a film like “Mulan,” produced by Disney in this grand scale that everyone can see, this is something that, it gives them hope and support and it inspires them to be anybody who they want to be and just as well as anyone. It doesn’t matter what gender you are. In the beginning I did turn it down. I didn’t really want to do “Mulan” because I found out there’s no singing. But my daughter said you have got to be in “Mulan” Papa.

What is your reaction to the fact that Disney is not opening the movie in China because of the corona virus?

It’s out of our control, we are professional actors, we came in as actors and we did the best we could.

There are more important things than making a movie, you are dealing with people’s lives here.

I have to use this opportunity to express my prayers to those who have been affected and hurt. A lot of people in China have suffered because of this virus, and we really have to support those, especially the medical staff and the doctors, who sacrifice themselves to save others. I think that is the big moral.

And not only is it affecting Chinese people, this virus is also affecting many places in the world, globally. I think that we should not let people use this as an excuse to point fingers and to discriminate. We should have more of a unity and fight this together as a global citizen.

Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh are all into martial arts. Is it important for an actor to know that in order to be successful in China?

Pretty much. I think it is easier to communicate with people through action movies. That’s why action movies usually sells tickets the most. I mean if you look at all the blockbusters, the Marvel movies are action heroes. For decades, Chinese actors are known for doing martial arts. But we are also professional actors. The market now has changed so much. — LA, GMA News

Not copying this to the Covid-19 thread. There's enough about Mulan and this there already.

[GeneChing]

Looks Like We May Know When Mulan Will Arrive On Disney+ (https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2546753/looks-like-we-probably-know-when-mulan-will-arrive-on-disney)
COREY CHICHIZOLA
MAY. 22. 2020 9:37 AM

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The entertainment industry has come to a halt due to global health concerns, resulting in a ton of changes that should be felt over the next few years. After theaters closed, a number of highly anticipated blockbuster were delayed, including Disney's live-action Mulan movie. Niki Caro's blockbuster was pushed back a number of months, with an intended theatrical release of July 24th. But now it looks like we may also know when Mulan will eventually be available to stream on Disney+.

The House of Mouse has been making moves over on Disney+, producing original content and also being a home for all things Disney. Obviously Mulan was expected to eventually arrive on the streaming service sometime after its run in theaters, although now we may have an idea as to when that might happen-- and its all thanks to social media. One Twitter user recently asked when Mulan was heading to Disney+, to which the verified help account responded:

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Well, that seems pretty cut and dry. At least it did, because the tweet revealing Mulan's possible Disney+ date as October 27th has since been deleted. So should we expect this live-action remake to be available to stream just a few months after its new release date?

The tweet in question came from the official Twitter of Disney+ help, before it was promptly deleted from the account. The streaming service just announced a ton of original content that'll be available for subscribers, leading for some fans to ask for specific projects on social media. That's exactly what happened in this case, with someone who was controlling the Disney+ help account revealing the possible Mulan Disney+ release date. But since the tweet has also been deleted, the House of Mouse may have other plans.

Disney fans can watch the original Mulan on Disney+. You can use this link for a free 7-day trial to the streaming service.



What a tease. I came really close to putting Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020)) on the cover of our Spring 2020 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71664-Spring-2020).

[GeneChing]

It seems like an eternity ago when I was eagerly anticipating attending the screener for this. How the world has changed since then.



Disney shifts ‘Mulan’ as Hollywood throws in the towel on July (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/26/disney-mulan-move-covid/)

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US-Chinese actress Yifei Liu at the world premiere of Disney's "Mulan" March 9 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The movie is the latest pandemic casualty and its release has been rescheduled again. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
By Steven Zeitchik
June 26, 2020 at 4:14 p.m. PDT

And then there were none.
“Mulan,” the last major Hollywood movie set to come out in July, has been postponed by Disney. It will now come out on Aug. 21, at the tail end of summer, with the hope of catching fire and playing through September.

“While the pandemic has changed our release plans for ‘Mulan’ and we will continue to be flexible as conditions require, it has not changed our belief in the power of this film and its message of hope and perseverance," the studio’s two chairmen, Alan Horn and Alan Bergman, said in a statement. They called the movie a “beautiful, epic, and moving film that is everything the cinematic experience should be, and that’s where we believe it belongs — on the world stage and the big screen for audiences around the globe to enjoy together.”

The move means that the month of July, which in recent years has seen mega-blockbusters from “The Lion King” to “The Dark Knight,” “Transformers” to many “Harry Potter” films, will not have a major new movie for the first time in the modern era. On Thursday, Warner Bros. moved “Tenet,” its Christopher Nolan film with high commercial hopes, from July to Aug. 12.

The postponement dashes the hopes of theater-owners, studios and many consumers of a cinematic revival this summer after a nearly four-month shutdown due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The release of a major family film at a time when many children are about to go back to school — or have just done so — is an extreme rarity in modern Hollywood. But Disney is gambling that the movie could play well to parents and children looking for something to do after a strange, pandemic-infused summer, and that the movie can dominate a Labor Day weekend two weeks later when many normal recreational options could be limited.

The “Mulan” move offers resolution — or an attempt at one — at a problem that began when one of Disney’s great cinematic hopes for 2020 was caught by the first wave of the novel coronavirus across the globe.

Originally scheduled for release March 27, Niki Caro’s live-action update on the 1998 Disney animated smash about a young woman on a hero’s journey featuring Chinese-American star Liu Yifei was rescheduled to July 24 when the virus began spreading. Though an 11th-hour postponement — the film had already held its premiere in Hollywood — the move was a no-brainer given the hundreds of millions of dollars it’s expected to take in not only in the U.S. but in China, where the film is set and from where much of its cast comes.

But where to put it has proved challenging. While late August is hardly a common time for a Hollywood release, a push to the fall or early 2021 would have been difficult given Disney’s other movies, which have also been rescheduled due to the pandemic. “Black Widow,” scheduled for May, is now in November,” “The Eternals” went from November to February 2021 and “Jungle Cruise,” set for this July, will now come out next July, leaving little room on the calendar.

Disney also has “Soul,” the new animated movie from Pixar chief creative officer and “Up” director Pete Doctor set for November, and it’s unlikely to want to crowd that date with another family-friendly title.

“Mulan” carries many hopes for a Disney that has been starved for revenue with theme parks closed and ESPN unable to show live sports. The studio has enjoyed massive success with its live-action remakes of 1990’s animated films; “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin” each grossed more than $1 billion globally upon their release in the past few years.

But the multiple schedule shifts, and the fact that many consumers remain reluctant to attend theaters, will pose a challenge even if the film can stay on track for August.

Whether theaters will even be open across the country also remains a question. As of Friday several states that had lifted restrictions on indoor recreation venues were scrambling to reinstate them as cases continued to rise in many parts of the country.

Florida and Texas were among those announcing record numbers of new cases at the end of the week. Florida reached 8,942 new infections Friday, close to double the previous record set just two days earlier. The governors of both states closed bars as a result and Texas reduced capacity limits on restaurants.

Disney must also contend with restrictions in China, where movie theaters remain closed.

“Mulan” could also face a publicity challenge in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests. In 2019, Liu posted support for police on a Chinese social-media site during the Hong Kong protests, saying she supports law-enforcement and that what the protesters were doing was a “shame.” The statement caused many to accuse her of supporting police brutality and prompted calls to boycott the film.
If the pandemic forces Disney to move the film’s release date again, it would be hard pressed to find another place on the calendar without bumping other films in the process. A move to video on-demand, as some fans have called for, is unlikely. Disney pushed “Artemis Fowl,” its adaptation of the action-fantasy literary hit from a scheduled May theatrical release to video on-demand. But such a move is unlikely for “Mulan,” which cost an estimated $200 million to make, while the revenue model for digital rentals of big-budget films remains uncertain.

[GeneChing]

POSTED ON JUNE 1, 2020 BY ACMAG
THE AUSTRALIAN CINEMATOGRAPHER BEHIND DISNEY’S EPIC LIVE-ACTION ‘MULAN’ (https://acmag.com.au/2020/06/01/mulan/)

From New Zealand director Niki Caro MNZM (Whale Rider), and Australian cinematographer Mandy Walker ACS ASC (Hidden Figures), a young Chinese maiden (Liu Yifei) disguises herself as a male warrior in order to save her father and fight for her country in Disney’s live-action epic Mulan.

Interview by Claire Marsh.

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Liu Yifei is Hua Mulan in Mulan – DOP Mandy Walker ACS ASC

AC – Firstly, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me. Can you tell me a little about the story of Mulan?

MW – Well, basically, the Emperor of China (Jet Li) declares war and every family has to send one man or boy to fight. Mulan’s (Liu Yifei) father volunteers to go but his legs were injured in the last war and the family knows that he’s not going to fair too well going into battle like that. Mulan dresses up in his armour and joins the army as a male. It’s through Mulan’s training that she realises she’s an elite warrior. Mulan is enlisted as part of a group of highly-trained forces and is sent off to fight.

AC – What attracted you to this project?

MW – My daughter loved the original Disney film when she was growing up. I’d seen the animation a number of times. I’d always wanted to work with director Niki Caro because I love her films. I always thought she was a very interesting filmmaker and loved that she has strong female characters in her films. When I found out that I had an interview with her I was so excited. Then I loved the script; so it was sort of a win-win for me when I got the job. It was great.

AC – How did that relationship go, with director Niki Caro?

MW – It was fantastic. During pre-production we took a few trips to China together. We also looked at reference films and studied Chinese art and photography as we were working out the visual language of the film. It was very collaborative. We realised pretty quickly that we were on the same page, which was fantastic. Our director was very organised and a very quick thinker. I think I’m the same, so when we were on set together, I felt there was a real synchronicity with our decision-making.

I think one of the most important things that the director said to me at the beginning of filming was that Mulan is the centre of the film. I always had that in the back of my mind. Whenever we talked about coverage or the choreography of the fight scenes I was always thinking that the camera had to be with her. We were lucky that Liu Yifei did many of her own stunt sequences, which meant that we could concentrate on her face. It’s not like when there’s a stunt person doing it. We could have really long lenses and focus on her face. Niki Caro is a great collaborator, so with every department the visual language was consistent and we were all very organised as a team.

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Filming ‘Mulan’ on location, director Niki Caro at centre – PHOTO Walt Disney Pictures

AC – I’m interested by the fact that you were drawing from Chinese art and design. Can you tell me how much that influenced the look of the film?

MW – I think a lot because even though we went for an original visual language, you can kind of glean the essence of things that we had in our references. Like when we went into the Imperial City, the real Imperial City in China, we found the architecture to be very symmetrical. So it lends itself to having somebody in the centre of the frame. The composition of a lot of Chinese art follows that same style. We had it in the back of our minds, but we also wanted to find something new.

During pre-production we also looked at films like Lawrence of Arabia (1962, cinematography by Freddie Young OBE BSC), and we watched a lot of Chinese martial art films because Mulan is an epic battle film.

I chose to shoot on a 65mm ARRI Alexa Digital because it’s the perfect tool for seeing big, epic landscape shots. It’s also a very intimate camera because it has a lower depth-of-field than shooting 35mm. When you’re on a close up you can drop the focus right off and be very intimate with the character. It’s pretty amazing that camera. I know that when they first developed it, the camera was thought to be mainly used for visual effects, or to do big exteriors. What you realise while working with it is that it beautifully photographs peoples faces.

I also had lenses custom made by Dan Sasaki at Panavision Woodland Hills. We had a portrait lens using glass based on a Petzval lens made in the United Kingdom that was from the 1800s which focuses on the centre of the lens, but then it drops off quite dramatically to the edges. When we wanted the audience to concentrate very much on her face we would use that lens, and then other people behind her would drop off and it really focused on her.

AC – Having only seen the trailer, one of the first things that struck me was the vibrancy of the colour pallet. Can you tell me a little about working with Grant Major (the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and the production design team?

MW – As well as being a version of the Chinese fable that is set in ancient times it also is a Disney movie and has an aesthetic that we decided was beautiful as well as historical.

We all worked really closely together to create the visual language; all the elements of what’s in the frame and how we see the characters. For instance, Mulan lives in a Fujian Tulou, which are ancient rural villages, built in the round. One important thing, which the director said right at the beginning, was that these Tulous shouldn’t feel old or antique; that their tools and clothes should reflect their present time. It shouldn’t be brown and grey and old looking. Also, the colour red was chosen for Mulan as her signature colour. That’s a very important part of the colour palette of the film.

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A scene from ‘Mulan’ – DOP Mandy Walker ACS ASC

AC – It’s a very important colour in Chinese culture too, isn’t it?

MW – It is, yes. It’s a very important colour. The way we approached colour represented that. In Mulan’s village, for example, there was much more colour and I went that way with the lighting as well. It’s very warm and inviting. Then obviously we’d get to a battle sequence and what we did was use hardly any colour. We dressed the opposing army in grey and brown so that Mulan would pop out in her red outfit. We chose a location that was very bland in colour as well, so that the audience would really be concentrating on her.

We also spent a lot of time working with stunt people and the choreographers because the director had said she didn’t want it to be a ‘generic fighting sequence’. She wanted it to be elegant and controlled, especially Mulan’s fight sequence. When we would watch the stunts, we would think of camera moves and think of ways to capture how she moves through the air. She’s not a superhero, she doesn’t do anything supernatural, but she has abilities that most people don’t have. She has what’s called ‘Qi’, which is like an inner force.

I haven’t done a battle movie before, so we looked at lots of battle scenes and I really looked at the cinematography. I thought it shouldn’t look like a boring mishmash, it should be something that feels like she has elegant control. I did that with the cameras as well, so that the movement of the camera and the framing is very specific to the action.

AC – The way you’re describing it makes me envision a dance between yourself and the action.

MW – That’s exactly right. It’s very interesting that you picked that up, because that’s exactly what we did. A lot of the time the camera was on a Scorpio Telescopic Crane with an Oculus head, which has multiple axis. We were able to spin around Mulan and dance with her exactly like that. A lot of her shots are filmed from the crane, and there was some Steadicam, cable-cam and Russian arm tracking vehicle. We were hardly ever hand-held. Generally we were on rigs that followed the action because it allowed us greater control over movement.

Actually, a lot of shots were designed in pre-visualisation. There were so many stunts involved, and the horse sequences were so complicated, that we had to plan it out in advance because we needed specific equipment in order to get those shots with seperate elements. Then a lot of our photography we tried to be ‘in camera’, so it wasn’t about having just green screen everywhere.

We would have as much set as we possibly could. It would be green screen extensions or skies but we limited it so that the actors felt like they were part of the environment. They weren’t acting just on green. And because we didn’t shoot in China; we only really shot scenic there; we shot the rest of it in New Zealand.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

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Jason Scott Lee as Bori Khan in a scene from ‘Mulan’ – DOP Mandy Walker ACS ASC

AC – Oh wow, really?

MW – Yes, so everything with actors we did in New Zealand. We captured the desert and the landscapes in China with a few helicopter shots, then we built the Imperial Palace including all the rooms and the courtyard on a backlot. They were outside and they were real.

AC – It sounds like an epic feat. How long were you shooting for? What did your shooting schedule look like?

MW – It was actually pretty quick for a big action film. We had seventy-four days scheduled and we came in on time. We were so organised. And we had to be. The director and I were very aware that this was the first time a film set this big had been run by women; female director, female cinematographer, female first assistant director and a female lead. We were very cognisant of everybody watching us for that reason. We were very determined to make it work and we did.

From the very beginning I wanted the director to feel like she had the set. Most of the lighting is outside the set and that’s also how I would light locations. We had a huge throne room set and I would pre-rig the lighting from 360-degrees. Everything’s on a dimmer board. We would look one way and shoot, then by the time we turned the camera around I would already have turned the light around. It was very quick and efficient.

When we were in the Fujian Tulou, the exterior set for Mulan’s village, I had three very big 60ft x 40ft charcoal diffusion frames and we could shoot in any weather, at any time of day. I kept it pretty much in the shade, so that we would never be waiting for light and we never had to suddenly bring out lamps to match to sun when we lost it.

I had a great crew. I was working with Shaun Conway, who’s my gaffer, and has been my gaffer on many films. I think we started working together twenty-five years ago. We have a very close relationship and have developed our own shorthand. Once I explained to Conway the visual language and style he could really get in there and make it happen. He has a really good eye and is clever making his own lights and planning for quick turn arounds.

AC – It’s invaluable to have a gaffer who knows what you need, and can do it.

MW – Yes, exactly, so you’re not having to micromanage. We also had at least two cameras on everything, and for some of the battle sequences we had five cameras. For the big scenes, the battle scenes, where we had sixty horses and a hundred soldiers, we had a military battle AD unit that worked with all the extras and actors in military manoeuvres and martial arts so that when it came time to rehearse they were ready to go. They knew, before they arrived on set, how to move together, walk together. They knew all the action. During their rehearsals the director and I would walk around and find angles because, again, you can only do so much in pre-visualisation.

I had really good people on my crew. I tried to involve people collaboratively so they would never feel like they were just being bossed around or didn’t have a creative input. I include them in pre-production so they’re aware of the visual language of the movie. The director and I would talk to them everyday about what she wanted the scene to be saying story wise and the approach we should take. We were so happy and our crew were so enthusiastic.

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Filming ‘Mulan’ on location, Jason Scott Lee at centre – PHOTO Walt Disney Pictures

AC – What do you think was the most challenging aspect of shooting Mulan?

MW – The most important aspect of my job is helping the director tell the story to an audience. If I understand the story, and understand the images I have to tell that particular story, that’s the challenge I enjoy most.

I think for me the most time consuming and logistical part of this film was the battle sequences. I mean every time I do a movie I choose a film that interests me story wise. And the fight sequences were one of the aspects of this particular project that were exciting because I’d never done anything like it before, so I found that a great challenge.

It was also about working out how to do things that serviced the director’s vision. I always kept that in the back of my mind. Being efficient, not going over budget, and getting the right people for the job. It’s the juggling of all the parts of my job that I actually love.

AC – How involved were you with the edit, and the grade?

MW – One of the most important aspects of cinematography, now more than ever, is working with visual effects. I always try to set up a relationship with that department very early on in pre-production. They have to understand what I’m trying to achieve and what the director wants in every scene so that people don’t go off on their own tangent. Because that can happen with visual effects. I kept that relationship going throughout post-production, even while I’m working on other things.

What I would do afterwards is pop in and see what they’re doing, or they would do things like send me examples that they wanted to put behind a certain scene that was shot to be at dusk and I would say, well that one suits the lighting more than anything, that was more of a reference that I showed everyone when I went to light it. That type of thing.

We did a final grade pass for the director’s cut of Mulan. I went in and balanced things, and the director did ask to change the look of certain scenes after editing as it sometimes changes the timeline, or sometimes a director wants a slightly different feel after seeing how things sit together. A cinematographer has to keep the production flowing. We came back and did some additional photography, but not a lot. We added a couple of little scenes with a couple of changes of dialogue.

I worked with Natasha Leonnet, who is a colourist at Efilm, who I’ve worked with on quite a few films like Hidden Figures (2016) and The Mountain Between Us (2017). We did what’s called a ‘look bible’ where we go through the movie and pick a couple of shots from each scene and do a grade on them, and then the director would come in to have a look and give us feedback.

Then I went to start work on Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Untitled Elvis’ project, at that time in early pre-production. As I am based up in Queensland, what we did was each weekend for four weeks was to stream the digital intermediate (DI) image and sound from Efilm Hollywood through TVips to me in a DI suite at Cutting Edge on the Gold Coast. It’s a secure internet connection that is full-resolution and in real-time. I could watch what they were doing in the edit suite while we’re talking on Skype.

Throughout each week the colourist would have gone through some scenes and I would go in on the weekends and spend a day making adjustments. Then the director would be watching on the same system at Disney, in between when she was sound mixing, and we got to grade the film like that. I actually still got to be very involved even though I was on the other side of the world, which is amazing. The technology we have now is absolutely incredible; you would not have been able to do this ten years ago. It’s not like I’m looking at some bad internet version on my computer, or a DVD or something, I’m actually watching, in real time, pretty close to full-resolution, what they are doing in the DI suite in Los Angeles.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

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Liu Yifei plays Hua Mulan in ‘Mulan’ – DOP Mandy Walker ACS ASC

AC – Do you have a favourite scene or sequence? Or has something from the film stayed with you?

MW – Yes, I do. The fight sequences with Mulan are some of my favourites from any movie I’ve ever done. The film is also very emotional and I get emotional when I watch it.

For example, the final twenty minutes of the movie, even though there was no spectacular visual fighting or exciting camera moves or anything going on, it’s still a very dramatic part of the movie. That sequence really resonates with me. To me, it means that we did shoot Mulan the right way. Storytelling is important. My job is not just about moving the camera for the sake of moving the camera or lighting something in a way that is visually showing off. Sometimes it’s not moving the camera, or it’s about picking the right lens for the right moment, or picking the right depth-of-field, or picking the right lighting situation so as not to take the audience out of the scene but enhance the right emotion. It may be a simple scene, photographically, but it’s one of the most emotional in the movie. I’m proud that we shot Mulan to express the journey of the main character.

AC – Looking back on those initial conversations with Niki Caro, do you think you succeeded with what you were hoping to achieve?

MW – Yes. And more.

I always feel like the process of pre-production is exciting, working out how you’re going to shoot a particular film. It’s a development. First, I sit down with the director and go through the script and just talk about the story. I really want to understand the story they want to tell and learn the way they want to tell it, and how best to support them in that. While my job is very technical, we don’t talk technicalities at that stage. First and foremost I’m an artist and that’s a very important part of my job. I have to work with interpreting and expressing through visual language, the director’s vision. I have to understand the emotion in a scene and what’s going on with the character to be able to translate that to an audience. Once I understand the emotional message and the artistic images we are going for, then I can work out the technical way of achieving this.

I always go to Panavision and talk to the amazing Dan Sasaki, who is the lens guru at Woodland Hills who develops the lenses for me for each project. I could say to him, for instance, that I want this landscape to look like a particular painting and he interprets that in his ideas for lens building. Some of the lenses he developed for Mulan are painterly, epic landscape lenses. I don’t know how he does his magic; but he can do things with glass and coatings and moving the elements to create a look. Sasaki, for instance, mentioned to me that there was glass used in the 1800s that was designed for stills portraiture . And then he’d develop our lenses from scratch. It’s a combination of the artistic elements, the technical elements and the organisation.

AC – It’s alchemy.

MW – That’s right, exactly. A very important part of my job is to be a General who is in charge of my crew and many units. Sometimes its up to two-hundred people working in my department. I have to organise, communicate and collaborate with them. There are all these elements that you’re juggling together to get what the director wants. It’s not just making pretty pictures, which is something I tell my students. I tell them, a cinematographer’s job is not just making a cool camera move or simply thinking about interesting lighting. It’s storytelling and how to get there. It’s having people come with you, who want to be with you, and who want to go on a journey with you.

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Liu Yifei is Mulan, in ‘Mulan’ – DOP Mandy Walker ACS ASC

AC – I’m wondering if the ending of Mulan changed much from the original, given the shifts we’ve seen in contemporary society as a result of things like the #metoo movement?

MW – I think Mulan is a feminist story because it’s about a woman finding out that she has special powers, and that she has an inner strength. I think the lesson of this film is that all women have this potential. That it’s something inside you that you have to discover for yourself. To discover your confidence and passion, and be brave, loyal and true.

AC – You don’t have to give the game away.

MW – I can’t [laughs]. But let me just say, from the outset the director had said, I want to make a film about a female warrior, and that’s what she did. We used to talk about ourselves on set and say, that in making this film we’re warriors (laughs). All women should be able to know they have that potential power.

AC – It’s a fantastic message, and not just within the story of Mulan, but in the story of making of the film. It’s incredibly impressive and really inspiring.

MW – Thank you. That’s what I hope. It’s why I want people to know that this is the first time a film of this caliber was made with all women at the top. Women who are running the set and running it well. We were really organised because we knew what we wanted and we were confidant. We were warriors.

AC – Absolutely. All credit to you. I can’t wait to see the film.

MW – I’m very very proud of it.

AC – You’re currently working on Elvis?

MW – We were pre-production but are now in hiatus like many projects

AC – Can you tell me a little about what drew you to that story?

MW – Well, again I loved the script and story and what’s important to me is collaborating with a director that I respect and who is a visionary, like Baz Luhrmann. I worked with him on Australia (2008) and also a couple of small films for luxury brand Chanel. When I met with him about Elvis he told me he’s been working on this for ten years or more. I got to read the script and I jumped at the chance because I love working with him. He’s a great collaborator. It’s another exciting but different project. I like to do different things and l like challenges. And I haven’t done a musical before.

It’s also a film about an iconic person and to me that’s really interesting. I suppose when I did Hidden Figures, digging in to the real life stories of those women was a big part of my job and I’ve started doing that now with Elvis Presley. Because the director and Catherine Martin, his wife and collaborator, have done so much initial research, right now I’m working out how we are going to approach actually putting that vision cinematographically onto the screen.

It’s been a very busy, exciting few months. It’s going to be really great once we are back up and running. There are really good people working on Elvis so I’m having a ball. To go from one great project to another, I’m really lucky. Working on Mulan was a really amazing experience and I’m very proud of what we did.

AC – You can’t ask for more than that, can you?

MW – No, you really can’t.

Mandy Walker ACS ASC is one of Australia’s most acclaimed and in-demand cinematographers having worked on a number of feature films including Love Serenade (1996), winner of the Cannes Camera d’Or.

Claire Marsh is a director and script developer based in Melbourne.

"The fight sequences with Mulan are some of my favourites from any movie I’ve ever done. "

[GeneChing]

#BoycottMulan Trends Again After Donnie Yen Celebrates Hong Kong’s Return to ‘Motherland’
Donnie Yen (https://nextshark.com/donnie-yen-boycottmulan-hong-kong/)
Martial arts star Donnie Yen recently celebrated Hong Kong’s handover to China, sparking heavy criticism from fans and renewed calls to #BoycottMulan.

https://cdn.statically.io/img/nextshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/feat.jpg?quality=100

Pro-Beijing post: Yen, who plays Commander Tung in Disney’s upcoming live-action Mulan remake, becomes the film’s second cast member along with lead Liu Yifei to spark backlash from fans.

On July 1, Yen took to Facebook to mark Hong Kong’s handover day, which commemorates the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China in 1997 and the eventual establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
“Today is the celebration day for Hong Kong returned to motherland China 23 years [sic],” the Chinese-born actor wrote.
He also fondly remembered performing for Chinese President and Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping back in 2017, calling it a “memorable night.”
In Hong Kong, the anniversary of the July 1 handover is celebrated as the Establishment Day and marked with “fireworks displays, live music, and dragon dances,” according to Public Holidays HK.
It has also become the platform for political movements demanding universal suffrage.
Yen is now being criticized in Hong Kong for his opinion of Xi Jinping amid Beijing’s recent imposition of the controversial national security law.
The new law, which many views as a threat to civil liberties, has since sparked a new round of pro-democracy protests in the city.

This article has a bunch of tweets after the it. Follow the link if you're interested.

Threads
Hong-Kong-protests (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23536-Hong-Kong-protests)
Donnie-Yen-Uber-Awesome-!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?58046-Donnie-Yen-Uber-Awesome-!!)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))

[GeneChing]

ENTERTAINMENT
Disney delays ‘Mulan’ indefinitely, Star Wars and Avatar movies pushed back a year (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/23/disney-delays-mulan-indefinitely-star-wars-and-avatar-movies-pushed-back-a-year.html)
PUBLISHED THU, JUL 23 20205:00 PM EDTUPDATED THU, JUL 23 20206:42 PM EDT
Sarah Whitten
@SARAHWHIT10
KEY POINTS
“Mulan” is no longer being released on Aug. 21 and is now “unset” on Disney’s calendar.
All dated Star Wars films and Avatar sequels have been pushed back one year on the calendar.
The company said that theater closures and production shutdowns during the global coronavirus pandemic caused it to make a number of adjustments to its slate.

https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106312455-1577373035892mulancropped.jpg?v=1577372796&w=630&h=354
Liu Yifei stars a Fa Mulan in Disney’s live-action adaptation of “Mulan.”
Disney

Disney is making some major changes to its release calendar that include delaying “Mulan” from its Aug. 21 release indefinitely and pushing back the debuts of future Star Wars and Avatar movies by a year.

On Thursday, the company said that theater closures and production shutdowns during the global coronavirus pandemic caused it to make a number of adjustments to its slate.

“Over the last few months, it’s become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis, and today that means pausing our release plans for ‘Mulan’ as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around the world,” a Walt Disney Studios spokesperson said in a statement Thursday.

Disney shares fell slightly in after-hours trading and were down nearly 1%.

“Mulan” is currently listed as unset, meaning its release is delayed indefinitely. This is the fourth time that the live-action film has been delayed since March.

With “Mulan” vacating its August release date, there are now no Hollywood blockbuster releases set for the month. “Tenet” moved out from its August debut on Monday and has yet to announce a new release date. AT&T CEO John Stankey has promised movie theater owners that Christopher Nolan’s spy thriller will have a theatrical release.

“New Mutants” a 20th Century Fox feature in the X-Men franchise that has been delayed for the last three years, appears to still be on the calendar for Aug. 28, but depending on if movie theaters reopen next month, the film could be pushed again or be delegated to a video on-demand release.

A number of smaller, independent features are set for release in theaters. However, major theater chains like AMC may not be open to show them. Earlier Thursday, AMC announced that it has pushed back its reopening plans to mid-August after “Tenet” left the calendar. It is unclear how it will react to “Mulan” leaving as well.

AMC, like other major movie theater chains, has been closed since mid-March, awaiting a slowdown in coronavirus cases and new content from Hollywood. AMC, in particular, had been very vocal about how the pandemic could push it into bankruptcy.

Earlier this month, the exhibitor was able to reach a debt agreement that should help it remain solvent through 2021.

“Theaters will again be forced to reassess their target opening dates,” Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com, said. “Archival titles can only get the market so far while the summer weather is conducive to the current drive-in boom. Studios need theaters to be open, and theaters need studios to release new product. Anytime one side of that equation budges, the other has little choice but to follow suit in this current world of uncertainty.”

Additional slate changes include:

“The Personal History of David Copperfield” moving to Aug. 28
“Death on the Nile” is now debuting on Oct. 23
“The Empty Man” will arrive on Dec. 4
“The French Dispatch” is unset
“Antlers” is now dated Feb. 19, 2021
“The Last Duel” will arrive Oct. 15, 2021
An untitled Disney Live Action film will take the place of “Avatar 2” on Dec. 16, 2021.
“Avatar 2” pushed to Dec. 16, 2022
Untitled Star Wars moved to Dec. 22, 2023
“Avatar 3” now dated Dec. 20, 2024
Untitled Star Wars redated to Dec. 19, 2025
“Avatar 4” will arrive Dec. 18, 2026
Untitled Star Wars moved to Dec. 17, 2027
“Avatar 5” now slated for Dec. 22, 2028

threads
Mulan-(2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
covid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

Another covid heartbreaker...



Aug 4, 2020 2:00pm PT
With ‘Mulan,’ Disney Tests Out Entirely New Early VOD Model (https://variety.com/2020/film/news/mulan-disney-plus-premiere-1234711185/)
By Adam B. Vary, Rebecca Rubin
Mulan
Courtesy of Disney

In another major blow to movie theaters, Disney announced “Mulan” will forgo its planned theatrical release. Instead, the live-action remake is premiering on Disney Plus on Sept. 4 for a premium rental price.

The company believes that the release of the action epic will help drive subscribers while serving as a valuable test case to determine how much of their hard-earned cash customers are willing to part with in order to watch a movie that was originally intended to debut exclusively in cinemas.

Unlike the rest of the content available on Disney Plus, “Mulan” won’t be available directly to subscribers. Consumers in the U.S. and other territories will have to pay $29.99 to rent the movie on top of the streaming service’s monthly subscription fee of $6.99. In markets where Disney Plus isn’t available, “Mulan” will play in cinemas.

For now, Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek says “Mulan’s” big move isn’t reflective of a new business model for the company — even though it kind of is.

“We’re looking at ‘Mulan’ as a one-off as opposed to saying there’s some new business windowing model that we’re looking at,” Chapek said Tuesday on the company’s earnings call.

Disney may be signaling to exhibitors that it’s not turning its back on cinemas and that it will respect their ability to have exclusive access to the studio’s content, but Chapek wouldn’t be so interested in testing the waters if the possibility didn’t exist that the studio would dive back into streaming with some other oft-delayed theatrical release. There’s plenty to pick from on that score. Disney has shelved a number of buzzy titles since the pandemic shuttered theaters. Tellingly, Chapek said that Disney wants to “learn from it and see the actual number of transactions.” If those numbers are good, will “Mulan” still be a one-off?

It’s also notable that the form of premium VOD that Disney is testing is very different and potentially more lucrative than others deployed by studios. “Mulan” will cost roughly $10 more than Universal charged for “Trolls World Tour” and it’s sticking the price of a subscription on top of that bill. It remains to be seen if that will be too rich for consumers at a time when unemployment is reaching Great Depression-era levels and benefits may be cut. It certainly makes “Mulan” the priciest VOD release since the failed attempt to offer 2011’s “Tower Heist” to cable subscribers for $60 three weeks after it opened. Universal, the studio behind the Ben Stiller-Eddie Murphy comedy, abandoned those plans in the wake of exhibitor upheaval.

Disney’s decision to mix things up with “Mulan” comes just days after AMC Theatres and Universal stunned investors when they announced that they had reached an agreement that would enable some movies to debut their film on home entertainment platforms within 17 days of their theatrical debut. The two companies hailed the move as an important evolution in film distribution, but other chains such as Regal and Cinemark were cool to the new model. Disney, among all of its major studio brethren, has historically been one of the staunchest allies of the theatrical experience. The announcement may have goosed its stock, but it was a drag on the shares of the major exhibitors.

The decision to put “Mulan” on premium video-on-demand further emphasizes the studio’s increased reliance on Disney Plus at a time when most of their business — from theme parks and cruises to movie theaters and retail stores — have been crippled by the pandemic. Research, Chapek says, suggests that bringing a high-profile release like “Mulan” to homes “will act as a fairly large stimulus to sign up for Disney Plus.”

Chapek added that it gives them a chance to recapture “some of our original investment” on “Mulan.” The movie cost $200 million to produce and many millions more to market and promote on a global scale. That means it will rely on ticket sales — and lots of ’em — if it hopes to turn a profit. Unlike Universal’s “Trolls World Tour,” Warner Bros.’ “Scoob” and other movies that were put on premium video-on-demand platforms in lieu of a traditional release, Disney won’t have to split in the riches from digital rentals since they own the streaming platform.

Originally scheduled to open on March 27, “Mulan” was meant to be one of Disney’s major theatrical releases for the year. The studio mounted a lavish red carpet premiere at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on March 9. But just three days later, the cascade of industry closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced Disney to postpone “Mulan’s” release. It was delayed multiple times before Disney indefinitely removed it from the release calendar last week.

It’s yet another stark indication of studios’ dwindling faith that movie theaters will be able to safely reopen in the near future, especially at the scale necessary to support mega-budgeted tentpole movies. Just before “Mulan” was pulled from Disney’s schedule, Warner Bros. removed “Tenet” from its release calendar. The sci-fi epic from Christopher Nolan is now expected to launch internationally starting on Aug. 26 before making its way to select U.S. cities on Sept. 3.

The lack of a theatrical release for “Mulan” is another setback for exhibitors, who had hoped patrons of all ages would turned out to watch the fearless Chinese warrior back on the big screen. “Tenet,” another title that movie theater owners are counting on to revive moviegoing after prolonged shutdowns, is geared toward slightly older crowds.

With sweeping battle scenes and lavishly appointed sets and costumes, Disney shelled out millions upon millions to make “Mulan” a must-see in theaters. In fact, when Disney delayed “Mulan” for the third time in June, co-chairman and chief creative officer Alan Horn and co-chairman Alan Bergman highlighted the necessity to see the film on the silver screen.

“Director Niki Caro and our cast and crew have created a beautiful, epic, and moving film that is everything the cinematic experience should be, and that’s where we believe it belongs — on the world stage and the big screen for audiences around the globe to enjoy together,” said Horn and Bergman in a statement at the time.

Based on the legend of the female Chinese warrior who disguises herself as a man to spare her infirm father from conscription into a war, “Mulan” features a breakout performance in the title role from Chinese actor Liu Yifei, and awards worthy performances from Tzi Ma (as Mulan’s father) and Gong Li (as a mysterious and complex villain). Along with “Crazy Rich Asians,” it is one of the only large-scale releases from a major Hollywood studio to feature an entirely Asian cast.

“Mulan” was always meant to be a global theatrical player, especially in China. But even though Chinese theaters have started to reopen, box office sales have been sluggish without any new content to feature.

threads
Mulan-(2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Disney+ (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71104-Disney)
covid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

MOVIES
U.K. Exhibitors "Bewildered" by Disney Decision Not to Bring 'Mulan' to Cinemas (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/uk-exhibitors-bewildered-by-disney-not-bringing-mulan-cinemas-1306032)
4:20 AM PDT 8/5/2020 by Alex Ritman

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/landscape_928x523/2020/03/pho-14030_r2-h_2020_0.jpg
Courtesy of Disney
'Mulan'

Disney's shock move to scrap the theatrical release in certain markets, including the U.S. and U.K., has gone down badly with the U.K.'s already-beleaguered exhibition industry.

Exhibitors in the U.K. have reacted badly to Disney's shock decision to scrap Mulan's several-times-postponed theatrical release and take it straight to its Disney+ platform in certain markets.

The controversial new release strategy was revealed on Tuesday, with the live-action family adventure — expected to be one of the first major blockbusters to be come out as exhibitors emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown — now set to be offered to Disney+ customers in the U.S., U.K. and other select markets for the premium price of $29.99 beginning Sept. 4, forgoing cinemas in many territories altogether.

In a letter sent to British cinemas on Wednesday and seen by The Hollywood Reporter, Disney apologized for the decision, which it said was one that was "not taken lightly."

"Given that COVID-19 has disrupted large parts of the content pipeline and markets are in vastly different situations right now, and after delaying the global theatrical debut multiple times, we are subsequently taking a tailored approach to this release," it said.

However, the move to bypass cinemas altogether and not even give Mulan a day-and-date release has rattled the U.K.'s already beleaguered exhibitor industry, which had been counting on both Disney's blockbuster and Warner Bros.' Tenet — now due to launch overseas Aug. 26 — to draw back customers.

"The decision not to give cinemas a chance to play the film (even if day and date with Disney +) is frankly bewildering and something we’ve of course gone back to them on," said Phil Clapp, chief executive of the U.K. Cinema Association, in a letter set to its members and seen by THR.

In a later statement, Clapp said the move would seem a "step backwards rather than forwards" by much of the industry.

"With cinemas across the U.K. now continuing to re-open and welcome back their customers, the decision by Walt Disney Studios yesterday to put Mulan on their Disney+ service and not into cinemas will be seen by many as hugely disappointing and mistimed," he added.

"A trip to the cinema to see one of the event family films of the year would have been hugely popular, successful and a welcome escape for many after months of restrictions on out of home entertainment. It would also have provided a much needed boost for both audiences and cinemas who need a supply of new films after Christopher Nolan’s Tenet hits cinemas at the end of August."

Kevin Markwick, who owns the independent Picture House cinema in Uckfield, was more descriptive in his response, joking that he'd be homeless by the time Disney decided to return to exhibitors.

"Thanks Disney chums, we'll be here warm & waiting for you when you plan to return, having existed on thin air and love & cuddles and happy thoughts. Just give us a buzz when you are ready. I'll be sleeping in a doorway outside the bank soaked in my own wee," he tweeted. He later added: "One other thing special Disney cuddle bums, if sectors of the industry are so sure that VOD and cinemas can live together, why not let us have a bash at showing Mulan at the same time?"

Another U.K. exhibition executive said the decision was perhaps taken because Disney didn’t want to "risk cinemas refusing to play the film" if it were to be released day-and-date on Disney+. "If Disney think they don’t need cinemas anymore that’s pretty much game over for us all."


ALEX RITMAN
alex.ritman@thr.com
@alexritman

threads
Mulan-(2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Disney+ (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71104-Disney)
covid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJbAZh3fv0g

[GeneChing]

Aug 17, 2020 12:00pm PT
Peter Chan’s Volleyball Drama ‘Leap’ to Hit China Over National Day (https://variety.com/2020/film/news/peter-chan-leap-national-day-1234737468/)

By Rebecca Davis

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/leap-image-cropped.jpg?w=600
"Leap"

Peter Chan’s hotly anticipated biographical sports drama “Leap” is set to hit China on Sept. 30, becoming the first of the Chinese New Year blockbusters canceled due to COVID-19 to set a theatrical outing.

Local animation “Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification,” which was also originally scheduled to premiere over the lunar new year, will premiere the day after. They will both hit theaters over the China’s patriotic National Day holiday that begins Oct. 1, typically one of the busiest movie-going weeks of the year.

They will compete against the patriotic anthology film “My People, My Homeland,” a sequel to last National Day’s “My People, My Country,” and Chinese comedy “Coffee or Tea?,” as well as a local animated take on the classic “Mulan” legend.

The fact that major new local blockbusters are now willing to set release dates is a signal of renewed confidence in China’s box office, as cinemas slowly get back on their feet after six months of closures. Theaters are still currently only allowed to sell up to 50% of their available tickets to enable social distancing.

Seven major films were expected to release Jan. 24 over the lunar new year holiday, but all were pulled just before their premieres as COVID-19 swept the country and made mass cinema-going look less and less feasible. Theaters were officially ordered shut by authorities just afterwards.

Of those titles, “Leap” is the first to set a theatrical release date. The others include helmer Dante Lam’s “The Rescue,” Wanda’s “Detective Chinatown 3,” Stanley Tong’s Jackie Chan-starring “Vanguard” and two animations, “Jiang Ziya” and “Boonie Bears: The Wild Life.”

Xu Zheng’s “Lost in Russia,” which was thematically tied to the lunar new year holiday, stoked controversy by deciding to skip theatrical altogether and release for free via ByteDance’s video platforms, including Douyin (China’s version of TikTok), Toutiao and Watermelon video.

“Leap” tells the story of the Chinese women’s national volleyball team and their tribulations over the course of decades. It features Huang Bo (“The Island,” “Crazy Alien”) and Gong Li, who stars as the legendary coach Lang Ping.

Threads
Chollywood-rising (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57225-Chollywood-rising)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71621-Legend-of-Deification-Jiang-Ziya)
covid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UXZEGYSwgg

[GeneChing]

This is dated to prior to the pandemic really taking hold.


‘Mulan 2’ Reportedly In Early Development At Disney (https://fullcirclecinema.com/2020/04/18/mulan-2-early-development-disney/)
Jacob Campbell POSTED ON APRIL 18, 20200

https://i1.wp.com/fullcirclecinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/mulan-disney-plus-release-date.jpg?resize=960%2C640&ssl=1

It appears that Disney has placed a lot of faith in its live-action adaptation of Mulan. According to insider Daniel Richtman, the studio is already working on a sequel to the film.

While Mulan was scheduled for release on March 27, the Coronavirus pandemic caused the film to be delayed to July 24. Most likely, Disney presumed the film would have been met with success so they would have followed up the release with the sequel announcement.

According to Richtman’s Patreon, Chris Bender, Jason Reed, and Jake Weiner will return to produce. Currently, there is no word on if Niki Caro will return to direct.

It is difficult to presume what the sequel will focus on given the first is yet to be released. The live-action remake has already deviated heavily from the animated feature, so this makes predicting the plot even more difficult.

As of now, there is no word on if the full cast will return for the sequel. Hopefully, as the release date of the first film draws closer, Disney will release more information concerning the sequel.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu-HkonqXqo

[GeneChing]

Aug 10, 2020 9:06pm PT
‘Mulan’ Approved for China Theatrical Release (https://variety.com/2020/film/news/mulan-disney-china-release-date-1234731222/)
By Rebecca Davis

Disney confirmed Monday that its live-action “Mulan” has been approved to release in Chinese cinemas “soon,” making China the most significant territory where the film will receive a theatrical outing. It has not yet been granted an official release date in the Middle Kingdom.

The U.S. company clearly tried hard to strike the right tone announcing the forthcoming premiere on its official Weibo social media account, writing in faux-poetic language that sought to mimic the original “Mulan” ballad’s traditional character.

“When the magnolia blossom opens, it lives up to its reputation and arrives as promised,” it wrote in the four-character spurts of classical verse, referencing the bloom that shares a Chinese name with the titular heroine. “[‘Mulan’’s] import is confirmed and it will soon burst into bloom in theaters; looking forward to meeting you!”

After delaying the film’s release date four times already due to COVID-19, Disney announced last week that the remake of its 1998 animated classic would release in most major territories on its streaming service Disney Plus for $29.99 starting Sept. 4. It also said it would release the film theatrically in territories where cinemas are open but Disney Plus is not currently available.

So far, “Mulan” has confirmed Sept. 4 theatrical releases in a few other Asian markets, including Singapore and Malaysia. If it hits China at the same time, that will put it in direct competition with Christopher Nolan’s hotly anticipated sci-fi epic “Tenet,” which will premiere in the mainland the same day.

An official China poster for the film issued Monday was widely ridiculed online as “ugly” and “dated,” a bad omen for a $200 million blockbuster that has gone out of its way to appeal to Chinese audiences in everything from its casting choices to story changes and set design.

“Did foreigners design this?? Is this for real??” wrote one commentator. “It looks like you messed up your Photoshop.” Another echoed the sentiment: “At first I thought this was a poster put out by some cinema itself; only after searching did I figure out that this was actually issued by Disney itself.”

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/mulan-poster2.jpg?w=287&h=396

A number of people had fun comparing the poster to those of B-grade local productions, saying it had the look of promo for a straight-to-streaming internet movie or soap.

“It looks just like an anti-Japanese war drama,” one wrote, likening it to a popular type of downmarket television typically put on by middle-aged housewives as background noise to accompany their chores.

The chosen old-school font solicited a particular Comic Sans-esque cringe. To the native eye, the calligraphic text is more reminiscent of early 2000s communal notices put up in residential compounds to remind people to take out their trash than Northern Wei dynasty poetry.

One person laughed that the font was “so low-brow it’s like picking your foot in public.” Another commented: “It’s even worse than the [animated ‘Mulan’] poster 22 years ago. Unbelievable that in this day and age you could still see such an outdated font design coming from Disney.”

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/e3fb720fgy1ghm5zxu27fj20ku0readi.jpg?w=228&h=300

The dismay echoes the feeling of disappointment at the Western company’s take on Chinese culture that many expressed when they got their first glimpse of the “Mulan” trailer — only to find that the northern-dwelling heroine appears to have grown up in a round house typical of the southern, coastal Hakka people living more than a thousand years after the period when her story is set.

Overall, however, the poster backlash didn’t stop most Chinese comments from expressing keen excitement at the prospect of catching “Mulan” in theaters. “Hurry up and figure out your mainland release date — my wallet is already at the ready!!!” one posted.

Another wrote: “I’m just so happy it’s finally confirmed! I’ve been waiting for this since 2018.”

A few commentators said they were still wary to re-enter cinemas because of COVID-19, or that their local multiplex had not yet reopened in the wake of the pandemic.

China’s box office performance has been middling since cinemas reopened on July 20, with many viewers apparently preferring to stay home in wait of newer, more exciting titles.

“Mulan” might be just the one to do the trick and revive the embattled Chinese exhibition sector. “Thank goodness, thank goodness! It was postponed indefinitely again and again, but fortunately our country did a good job with preventing and controlling the coronavirus, so we can go to the cinemas and see it!” an excited super-fan of lead actress Liu Yifei exclaimed. Indeed, China reported just 49 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, while the U.S. reported 48,769.

Yet even should Chinese cinemas get more firmly back on their feet by the time “Mulan” releases, the title could face a nationalist backlash in the world’s second-largest film market as ties between the U.S. and China continue to rapidly deteriorate.

The seeds of this are already brewing online, where numerous users posting about “Mulan” have called for a boycott of American films.

“I’ll support the film online, but forget about going to see it in theaters,” one wrote. “Even if the money I spend is just a drop in the bucket, I don’t want a cent of my money making its way into the pockets of American companies.”

Mulan is getting a theatrical release in China.

[GeneChing]

When covid first struck, I thought it would hobble the rise of China's film industry. Now it looks like it was just what was needed to eclipse Hollywood.



Aug 27, 2020 7:05pm PT
China Is World’s First Market to Achieve Full Box Office Recovery, Says Analytics Firm (https://variety.com/2020/film/news/china-first-box-office-recovery-1234751777/)
By Rebecca Davis

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/eight-hundred-a-cr-res-e5ae88e5869be88bb1e58b87e68ab5e68a97e68cafe5a58be5 85a8e59bbde5908ce8839e.jpg?w=600
The Eight Hundred
Courtesy of Huayi Bros

China this week became the first global market to make a “full box office recovery” according to targets developed by the U.K.-based film industry analytics firm Gower Street, the company said Thursday.

The firm created five targets to track and compare the paths of different territories’ exhibition sectors back to recovery. The indicators move from stage one — a point when a significant majority (80%) of cinemas are ready to resume operations — to stage five, in which business over the course of a week is equivalent to that of the top quartile of weekly earnings from the past two years.

After reaching this stage five goal, a particular market “should react as normal, with an ebb and flow dependent on the release calendar,” Gower Street explained.

To reach that target, post-COVID China needed to generate a weekly box office of $184 million (RMB1.27 billion). According to data from Comscore Movies, China hit this target just five days into the week starting Friday, Aug. 21, having taken in $189 million (RMB1.31 billion) by the end of the day Tuesday.

China’s national box office for the full week was $252 million (RMB1.74 billion), more than 18% greater than that of the equivalent week in 2019, which saw earnings of around $209 million (RMB1.44 billion).

More than 90% of Chinese cinemas by market share are now open, although they continue to operate with capacity restrictions allowing them to sell only half their available tickets.

Despite these limitations, China’s performance stands out worldwide at a time when nearly 65% of global cinemas by market share are now back in business in the wake of COVID-19 closures, up from 55% a week ago, Gower Street said.

The global box office so far in 2020 is just $6.88 billion, a fraction of the $27.2 billion three year average year to date score. Nevertheless, sales are increasing, with the $200 million collected globally this week marking a rise of 54% from the one previous. China, said Gower Street, was “undoubtedly the driver” of this growth.

This week’s success was due to massive sales for local war film “The Eight Hundred,” as well as Tuesday’s Qixi Festival, a type of Chinese Valentine’s day, which saw the release of popular local time-travel rom-com “Love You Forever,” which grossed more than $39 million on its opening day.

Giving the box office a further mid-week boost, local romantic drama “Wild Grass” and Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-winning “Little Women” also premiered Tuesday, debuting to the tune of $5.5 million and $1.5 million on day one, respectively, according to data from Maoyan.

This week’s box office tally accounts for nearly a third of all ticket sales in China to date this year, with “The Eight Hundred” alone accounting of 27% of the national 2020 box office as of Wednesday. The film has grossed $210 million (RMB1.45 billion) and Maoyan now projects a total of $459 million (RMB3.16 billion).

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The Chinese market’s revival comes just in time for Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which is set to further galvanize recovery once it premieres in the country on Sept. 4. A re-release of his “Inception” will compete with “The Eight Hundred” once it hits cinemas on Friday.

Disney’s “Mulan” has yet to receive an official release date in the territory, but is expected to hit theaters in the near future.


Threads
Chollywood-rising (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57225-Chollywood-rising)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
800 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71303-The-Eight-Hundred)
Tenet (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71638-Tenet)
covid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

Mulan Releases To All Disney+ Subscribers For Free in December [UPDATED] (https://screenrant.com/mulan-movie-disney-plus-free-streaming-release-december/)
Mulan will become available to all Disney+ subscribers in December, just three months after its theatrical and Premier Access streaming release.
BY XAVIER ILYAS
4 DAYS AGO

https://static3.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Mulan.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=960&h=500&dpr=1.5

UPDATE: Disney+ has since removed the December date from its Mulan pre-order page. Our original story continues below.

Disney's Mulan will become available to all Disney+ subscribers in December. The film, a live-action remake of Disney's 1998 animated classic of the same name, has had a continuously shifting release date. Like every big theatrical release in 2020, Mulan faced delays due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The film had its premiere on March 9, 2020, and was originally set to have its wide release on March 27. However, with social distancing guidelines in place and the closure of movie theaters around the world, the film was delayed. First to July 2020 and then again to August, before Disney removed it from their release schedule altogether.

Disney then announced Mulan would be available for purchase on Disney+ starting on September 4, 2020. The film would also release theatrically in markets where cinemas are allowed to operate and where Disney+ isn't available. The film will cost a relatively steep $30 on the streaming platform, but it would be a permanent purchase, not a rental. There was widespread speculation on when the film would be available for free on Disney+. Based on the release of films like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Frozen II, it was safe assumption that Disney+ wouldn't see a free version of Mulan on the streaming platform until mid-2021, but that does not appear to be the case.

According to the pre-order page for the movie, Mulan will release for all Disney+ subscribers on December 4, 2020. This news marks the fastest that a major film has gone from its theatrical release to being streamed (for free) on Disney+, with only three months between the two. You can see a screenshot of Mulan's Disney+ page, below:

While the announcement of Mulan's direct-to-Disney+ release has been good for Disney stock, the reception from both fans and theater-owners has been mixed. With movie theaters already being one of the hardest hit businesses during the pandemic, theater owners have been particularly upset by Disney's release plans for Mulan. Fans have also expressed their disappointment, citing how similar Disney blockbusters like Black Widow will still have a typical theatrical release (Disney has stated that they intend Mulan's Disney+ release to be a one-off, although who knows what will happen if it is a success), arguing that locking Mulan behind a paywall is a determent to the film and its intended audience. Given that Mulan will be the first Disney-branded film will an all Asian cast, making the film less accessible at open seems like a step backward for representation in Hollywood.

Disney's decision to release a major film on its streaming service so soon after its theatrical window is unprecedented. Depending on how successful the film is at bringing in new Disney+ subscribers, this decision could pose huge implications for the future of cinemas and release structures. Given how close its non-Premiere Access release will be to its theatrical one, there is a pretty good chance that this will negatively affect Mulan's theatrical sales. There are many arguments for why Mulan wouldn't work on Disney+, but given how unprecedented this whole situation is, no one can really predict how successful the film will or won't be. Given how many theaters around the world can't operate at full capacity, and major cities in the U.S. like New York and Los Angeles still aren't allowing theaters to open, distributors have to find new ways to deliver their films to consumers. It is unknown whether or not we will eventually return to a typical release structure, but the success or failure of Mulan on Disney+ will certainly be a important factor for future cinema releases.

Threads
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Disney+ (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71104-Disney)

[GeneChing]

My latest feature for Den of Geek: The Many Obstacles of Mulan (https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/mulan-disney-controversy/)

https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/mulan-production-marketing-obstacles.jpg?resize=768%2C432

threads
mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
covid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

[GeneChing]

'Mulan' Sets Sail on Historic Dual PVOD-Theatrical Journey (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mulan-sets-sail-on-historic-dual-pvod-theatrical-journey)
2:38 PM PDT 9/2/2020 by Pamela McClintock

https://static.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2020/03/pho-10850_r-h_2020-928x523.jpg
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises Publicity

Niki Caro's live-action adaptation of the classic Disney animated film stars Chinese actress Liu Yifei.

Disney's Mulan sets sail over Labor Day weekend on a historic dual premium VOD-theatrical journey as Hollywood struggles to rebound from the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic by testing new release models.

The live-action adaptation of the classic animated pic will be made available to Disney+ subscribers in the U.S. and select international markets on Sept. 4 at a premium price. Those paying to watch the film will have access to it for as long as they remain customers of the streaming service. In the U.S., the cost is $29.99. In addition to the U.S., Mulan will be made available to Disney+ customers in Canada, New Zealand, Australia and many Western European countries at at varying price points.

Additionally, the studio announced Tuesday that Mulan will be made available to all Disney+ members at no extra charge on Dec. 4.

Key territories where Mulan will play on the big screen include Russia (Sept. 10), China (Sept. 11), and South Korea (Sept. 17).

Hopes are especially high for China, where the box office is rebounding in a major way. The war epic The Eight Hundred crossed the $300 million mark on Wednesday despite capacity being limited to 50 percent across the Middle Kingdom.

Niki Caro directed the adventure epic that stars Liu Yifei as Mulan, a young Chinese woman who disguises herself as a man to spare her elderly father from military service.

This weekend, Mulan opens theatrically in a number of smaller international territories, including Croatia, the Czech Rep, the Middle East, Slovakia, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

Like Christopher Nolan's Tenet, Mulan was forced to delay its debut on the big screen numerous times due to COVID-19 (it was originally set to launch in late March). In August, Disney ultimately decided to scrap a traditional theatrical release in favor of an dual model that is unprecedented for a Hollywood tentpole.

Both event pics cost $200 million to produce before marketing, meaning they will have to gross hundreds of millions to land in the black. Tenet is staying the course and will open in U.S. theaters on Sept. 3 after debuting to a better than expected $53 million-plus internationally last weekend, including Canada.

The U.S. lags much of the rest of the world in terms of theater reopenings. And it is still not clear when theaters can flip on the lights in Los Angeles and New York City, the country's two largest moviegoing markets.

Disney's revamped plan for Mulan was a major blow for the exhibition business, which was counting on playing both that film and Tenet. (Of all the major Hollywood studios, Disney had been viewed as the biggest proponent of theatrical windows.)

It is the first time Disney has offered a film on Disney+ at a top-tier price, thus creating its own premium video-on-demand service at a time when PVOD is gaining strength across the industry because of the pandemic.

Universal Pictures became the first major studio in the COVID-19 era to break the theatrical window when announcing in March that Trolls World Tour — which had been set for an early April release — would instead be made available to rent on PVOD for 48 hours for $19.99. Any theaters that remained open were also offered the film, although by April, most theaters across the globe were dark.

Since then, a number of Hollywood films have gone straight to PVOD in the U.S. Mulan is unique in that it could do big box office business in the markets where it is playing theatrically, such as China and the rest of Asia.

The Disney film also stars veteran Hong Kong and Chinese actors Jet Li, Gong Li and Donnie Yen, along with Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Ron Yuan, Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao, Cheng Pei-Pei, Nelson Lee and Chum Ehelepola. Veteran Hong Kong hitmaker Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Monster Hunt) served as a creative consultant and executive producer on the film.

Unlike box office grosses, Hollywood studios don't have to report PVOD numbers. NBCUniversal brass have said that Trolls World Tour made $100 million in the U.S. but haven't elaborated further.

Speaking to investors in August, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek stressed that Mulan is a "one-off" and shouldn't be taken to mean that the company is looking to permanently alter theatrical windowing. "That said," Chapek added, "we find it very interesting to be able to take a new offering to consumers at that $29.99 price and learn from it and see what happens not only in terms of the uptick of the number of subscribers we got on the platform, but also the number of transactions we get on that PVOD offering."


PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
pamela.mcclintock@thr.com
@thr

I don't have Disney+. I need to find someone nearby who does. I'd pay the $30 for a socially-distanced local subscriber friend.

[GeneChing]

My latest feature for Den of Geek: Mulan: The Real History of the Chinese Legend (https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/mulan-real-history-chinese-legend/)

https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/mulan-real-history-chinese-legend.jpg?resize=768%2C432

[GeneChing]

Bring Honor to Us All. READ The Ballad of Mulan (in the Age of Coronavirus) (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1556) by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com//admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/images/ezine/5754_Mulan_Spread.jpg

Threads
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Spring-2020 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71664-Spring-2020)
Summmer-2020 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71773-Summmer-2020)

[YinOrYan]

Bring Honor to Us All. READ The Ballad of Mulan (in the Age of Coronavirus) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1556) by Gene Ching


Nice. I love the design of that Mulan jian with the ring handle. Wonder if there's any historic basis to it. You guys should cut a deal with Disney or Nerf to sell them. You could sell a ton of them. I'm getting tired of cutting-down Nerf swords to make them more Chinese, like this:

[GeneChing]

Mulan is cursed.


‘Mulan’: Disney CFO Christine McCarthy Concedes China Uproar “Has Generated A Lot Of Issues For Us” (https://deadline.com/2020/09/mulan-disney-cfo-christine-mccarthy-concedes-china-uproar-has-generated-a-lot-of-issues-for-us-1234574761/)
By Dade Hayes
Finance Editor
@dadehayes
September 10, 2020 1:01pm

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/mulan-19.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Jasin Boland/Disney

Disney CFO Christine McCarthy addressed the controversy over Mulan, which critics accuse of indirectly favoring the oppression of Uighur Muslims in China, noting the uproar has created “a lot of issues.”

Authorities in the Xinjiang province, an area where Uighurs have been detained in mass internment camps, authorized filming in the region and a government agency is acknowledged in the film’s credits. Critics, including politicians like U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo) have attacked the film, released on Disney+ last Friday, and called for it to be pulled from the streaming service and theaters.

Various controversies and challenges have dogged the live-action remake of Disney’s 1998 animated feature for the past year or more. The company also had to reschedule its planned theatrical release numerous times as it responded to swirling uncertainties around COVID-19.

Mulan is slated to be released soon in China, which remains in a fierce political and economic standoff with U.S. over a range of matters, with many media and tech companies getting dragged into the fray. McCarthy, appearing at the Bank of America Virtual 2020 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference, was asked if the backlash would hurt the film’s commercial potential in China.

“I’m not a box-office prognosticator, but it has generated a lot of publicity,” she said. “Let me just put something into context. The real facts are that Mulan was primarily shot — almost in entirety — in New Zealand. In an effort to accurately depict some of the unique landscape and geography of the country of China for this period drama, we filmed scenery in 20 different locations in China. It’s common knowledge that, in order to film in China, you have to be granted permission. That permission comes from the central government.”

McCarthy went on, noting that it is a common practice around the world “to acknowledge in a film’s credits the national and local governments that allowed you to film there. So, in our credits, it recognized both China and locations in New Zealand. I would just leave it at that, but it has generated a lot of issues for us.”

Apart from the controversy, many of McCarthy’s comments echoed material from her appearance on Wednesday at a similar media conference organized by Citibank. She reiterated that research on moviegoers’ mixed sentiment about returning to theaters helped drive the company’s decision to put it out first as a $30 premium to Disney+ subscribers.

Invited by moderator Jessica Reif Ehrlich to expand on the film studio’s release strategy, she said more “premier access” experiments like Mulan are possible. But she stressed that theatrical remains a key component of the company’s distribution plans and did not say the company is actively talking with exhibitors about altering standard release windows.

“We’ve got a pretty robust slate” through 2021 and beyond, she said. “We hope theaters are open, and we hope our films are films that for the people who choose to go to movie theaters, the experience of going to a theater is very different from what you would have at home.”

Among the other topics that surfaced during the 40-minute session was the state of negotiations with the NFL. Like ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal and Fox, Disney is talking with the league about a re-up. ESPN’s Monday Night Football rights expire sooner than the other network packages, in 2021.

The company approaches deals in a “disciplined” manner, but is willing to consider guaranteeing that games would air on ABC rather than ESPN, if it helped Disney’s chances to lock in a renewal.

[GeneChing]

This feels like the last nail in the coffin. I wonder how it would've done without the pandemic. I also wonder how it will affect Chinese casting in the future.


Box Office: 'Mulan' Malfunctions in China With $23M Opening (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-mulan-malfunctions-in-china-with-23m-opening)
1:16 PM PDT 9/13/2020 by Pamela McClintock

The $200 million live-action epic went straight to Disney+ in the U.S. and other select territories amid the ongoing pandemic.

Disney's Mulan malfunctioned in its China box office debut with a disheartening $23.2 million.

The $200 million tentpole was made with both Chinese and American audiences top of mind.

Directed by Niki Caro, the live-action adaptation of the classic animated title headlines popular Chinese-born actress Liu Yiefei as a young woman who disguises herself as a man in order to fight in the imperial army. Mulan co-stars a slew of Chinese cinema icons, including Gong Li, Jet Li, Donnie Yen and others.

In the days leading up to the film's Middle Kingdom opening, analysts had expected it to take in anywhere from $30 million to $40 million over the Sept. 11-13 frame. (Christopher Nolan's Tenet, after all, had launched to $30 million the previous weekend.)

On Friday, Mulan received particularly poor social scores on China's leading ticket apps, Maoyan and Alibaba's Taopiaopiao, in a foretelling of the movie's weekend start. Ultimately, Disney's global vision of a story based on an ancient Chinese fable doesn't seem to be resonating with moviegoers in that country.

The Disney event pic was originally set to unfurl in theaters around the globe in late March, but those plans were waylaid when the novel coronavirus struck, forcing mass cinema closures.

Disney delayed the release date several times before ultimately deciding to send Mulan straight to Disney+ at a premium price in the U.S. and other select markets. In other territories — such as China and Russia — Mulan is getting a traditional theatrical release.

Late last year, Mulan became the subject of controversy after Liu voiced her support for the Hong Kong police force, which was then in the midst of brutally suppressing the city's pro-democracy movement. Her comments sparked a heated online backlash under the hashtag #BoycottMulan. In recent weeks, the online campaign was revived.

Also, in recent days, viewers watching the movie spotted a "special thanks" in the film's credits to various government entities in Xinjiang Provence, where China has been accused of gross human rights abuses against its Muslim Uighur minority population. (Roughly a minute of the movie was filmed in that provence.)

Addressing the latest uproar last week, Walt Disney Co. chief financial officer Christine McCarthy said while Mulan was filmed almost entirely in New Zealand, scenery was filmed in 20 locations in China or order to capture the unique landscape of that country. She said it is common industry practice to "acknowledge in a film’s credits the national and local governments that allowed you to film there."

All told, Mulan is playing on the big screen in 17 markets so far, earning an early $37.6 million to date.

The company hasn't released any viewership numbers of those paying $29.99 to watch Caro's film on Disney+, although McCarthy told investors she was "very pleased with what we saw over the four-day weekend."


PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
pamela.mcclintock@thr.com
@thr

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFmFWM8HrEo

Threads
Mulan-(2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Matchless Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71878-Matchless-Mulan)

[GeneChing]

From my poem parody The Ballad of Mulan (in the age of Coronavirus) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1556):
"When a film premieres in 2020,
How can they tell if Mulan is a success?"



Mulan's 2020 Box Office Explained: Was It A Success For Disney+? (https://screenrant.com/mulan-2020-movie-disney-plus-office-success-failure/)
Releasing the highly anticipated live-action remake on Disney+ was a massive risk for Disney. Did Mulan’s box office make it a success?

BY KAY MCGUIRE
2 HOURS AGO

https://static3.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/mulan-disney-plus.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=960&h=500&dpr=1.5

Disney's latest live-action remake Mulan premiered on Disney+ to mixed reviews and a 68% increase in subscribers for the streaming service, so can it be considered a box office success? After postponing Mulan's original March 2020 release in theaters due to the coronavirus pandemic, Disney announced that Mulan would premiere exclusively on their streaming service Disney+ in September. Unlike other Disney+ exclusive releases such as Lady And The Tramp or Artemis Fowl, Mulan would only be available to subscribers who paid $29.99 for premiere access to the film.

Although Mulan has gotten divisive reviews and calls to boycott the film, Disney reported a 68% increase in Disney+ downloads in anticipation of the movie's release. In addition, subscribers spent 193% more on the Disney+ app, largely due to the fee required to watch Mulan. Despite the subscriber increase, Mulan suffered from a lack of a traditional box office release and had a disappointing opening weekend when it premiered in China. In addition, Mulan underperformed in comparison to the other high-profile Disney+ release Hamilton, which saw a 74% increase in Disney+ subscribers ahead of its premiere.

It's difficult to say if Mulan was a box office success for Disney or a failure, like the much maligned live-action remake Dumbo, which premiered in 2019 to a disappointing opening box office of $45 million domestically. Despite the mixed reviews and controversy surrounding the movie, Mulan seems to have been successful for Disney+, although it has one of the most disappointing box offices out of Disney's live-action remakes. While Mulan will likely not make back its $200 million+ budget, the film still did somewhat well on its opening weekend. Compared to Disney's other live-action remakes, Mulan looks like a failure on paper - but was it a success for Disney+?

Mulan's Performance On Disney+

https://static3.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Mulan-Disney-Plus.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=370&dpr=1.5

After postponing Mulan's original theatrical release, Disney announced that the film would premiere exclusively on Disney+. Disney+ subscribers had to pay an additional, one-time fee of $29.99 in exchange for premiere access to watch the film, which permanently adds Mulan to their streaming library. Disney+ initially saw a 68% increase in subscriptions, and subscribers spending increased by 193% due to the premiere access fee. Mulan made a total of $35.5 million on its opening weekend from Disney+ subscribers. Since the movie wasn't released in theaters, the $35.5 million is entirely net profit for Disney, who didn't have to pay any distribution fees by hosting it on their streaming service.

Immediately after Mulan was released on Disney+, it became the number one movie on the site and had a 15% viewer share among all titles streamed that weekend across every streaming service. In plain English, that means that 15% of people who watched a new release over Labor Day Weekend were watching Mulan, narrowly edging out the 9.6% who watched the Charlie Kaufman film I'm Thinking Of Ending Things (via IndieWire). Early numbers indicate that Mulan was watched by a total of 1.12 million households on its opening weekend. While Hamilton outperformed Mulan with 2.7 million households on its first weekend, Hamilton didn't require any addition cost to access the musical, making Mulan's performance even more impressive.

Mulan's Box Office Performance

https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Mulan-China-poster-theatrical-run.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=370&dpr=1.5

While Disney hoped that Mulan's release in China would make up for the distribution issues in the U.S. market, the film had a disappointing opening weekend and only made $23.2 million at the Chinese box office. Compared to Disney's other live-action remakes, Mulan was a significant failure internationally; Beauty and the Beast made $85 million in its opening weekend in China, followed by Jungle Book with $55 million. Disney made several changes to make Mulan more faithful to the original poem "The Ballad of Mulan" and appeal more to Chinese audiences, but those efforts seem to have been in vain.

Mulan's international failure can be attributed to the disconnect between casting a mostly Chinese cast with an all-white creative team, as well as an out of touch marketing campaign that failed to connect with Chinese audiences. Mulan doesn't have the worst Chinese box office out of Disney's live-action remakes - Dumbo only made $11 million its opening weekend - but it's a spectacular failure considering Disney's aggressive marketing campaign in China. Unlike the U.S. where movie theaters continue to be shutdown, Chinese audiences had a choice between several other movie options including Tenet, which overtook Mulan with a $50 million opening weekend.

Was Mulan A Success For Disney+?

Although Hamilton saw a bigger increase in Disney+ downloads prior to the musical's release, Mulan grossed a much higher profit due to the additional cost required to watch the movie. Mulan was not a success by traditional box office metrics, with the lowest opening box office of any Disney live-action remake, and the film is like not going to make back its $200 million+ budget. It was also a failure overseas, with a disappointing international box office and Mulan's failure to do well in the Chinese market, where Disney was aggressively marketing the film to make up for itsdomestic failures.

Despite that, Mulan was a success for Disney+, significantly increasing the number of subscribers and proving that almost 100,000 people would pay an additional $30 to access the film. While Mulan suffered from calls to boycott the film following Liu Yifei's comments about the Hong Kong protests, alienated Chinese audiences with its all-white production team, and dissuaded American audiences by cutting the songs and characters that made the animated Mulan so beloved, it still managed to bring in $35.5 million from streaming alone. If Mulan had premiered in theaters with the same opening weekend box office, it would have been a massive commercial failure and the lowest-performing live-action Disney remake, tying with Maleficient: Mistress of Evil. Because Mulan premiered only on Disney+, the total gross is a victory and a sign that future releases that premiere on streaming can still be successful.

Mulan was not the first high-profile movie to have its theatrical release moved to Disney+, but it was the first one that required an additional fee. Although Mulan will be available for free in December 2020, it still made the studio $35.5 million in net profits. While the disappointing Chinese box office was another hit to Mulan, its success on Disney+ proved that Disney was right to shift the premiere to the streaming service. Mulan's success could be a disaster for cinemas if more studios will follow suit, foregoing the traditional theatrical distribution model in favor of releasing films exclusively on streaming. While it didn't do as well as the Disney remakes with a proper theatrical release, Disney+ still had a massive success with Mulan.

[GeneChing]

#Showbiz: China to release its own animated 'Kung Fu Mulan'
Dennis Chua 10 hrs ago

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB197WLw.img?h=812&w=1248&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=fProvided by New Straits Times Kung Fu Mulan poster
KUALA LUMPUR: Recently, Disney's live-action remake of Mulan came under fire for working with the authorities in the Xinjiang province, where ethnic Uighurs have faced human rights abuses from the Chinese government.

Soon after, China banned its media outlets from reporting on the new movie, which has been a box office flop in the country.

Entertainment portal JayneStars reported on Monday that China had come up with its own "answer" to the Disney movie, Kung Fu Mulan which will premiere on Oct 3 to mark the People's Republic's National Day.

Kung Fu Mulan, an animated film, has been touted as "the most realistic portrayal of China and Mulan" and this powerful statement has been printed on its promotional poster which shows a back view of the legendary woman warrior Fa Mulan as she faces off an army of Mongolian invaders.

The poster, which also carries the slogan "Real China, Real Mulan" displays the Chinese production team's confidence in conveying the true spirit of Mulan and alluded to Disney's poor job on the Mulan remake.

The animated film which has been in the works for the past five years is specially catered to Chinese audiences.

It seeks to deliver a profound message on the importance of three Confucian virtues, loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness.

Knowing that viewers want more than just a tale of a woman who disguises as a man, Kung Fu Mulan's sentimental storytelling of love and sacrifice evokes patriotism during China's main national holiday.

Mulan's personality is different from the Disney adaptations. She is a more multi-dimensional character, but no less brave, smart and heroic than her Disney versions.

Disney's first Mulan, an animated film was screened in 1998, and the heroine was voiced by Ming-Na Wen of Agents of SHIELD fame. It earned a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film.

Disney's second Mulan, a live action film loosely based on the 1998 film, premiered on Sept 4.

Directed by Niki Caro, it stars Crystal Liu Yifei as Mulan, with Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Gong Li and Jet Li as major characters.

Mulan is based on the legend of a female warrior who lived during the Northern and Southern Dynasties era from the 4th to 6th centuries AD.

She took her father's place in the army by disguising herself as a man and proved to be a brave and brilliant military strategist.

Threads
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53202-Mulan)
Kung Fu Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71880-Kung-Fu-Mulan)
Mulan-(2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))

[GeneChing]

Sep 20, 2020 12:50pm PT
China Box Office: ‘Mulan’ Defeated Yet Again by ‘The Eight Hundred’ (https://variety.com/2020/film/news/disney-mulan-china-box-office-2-1234776520/)

By Rebecca Davis

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/mulan_awards_costume.jpg?w=600
Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Disney’s “Mulan” made only $6.47 million over its second weekend in China, allowing it to be handily defeated once again by the local war epic “The Eight Hundred,” according to data from industry tracker Maoyan.

As of Sunday evening, the Disney title has earned a cumulative $36.5 million (RMB 247 million) in the key territory. But “The Eight Hundred” led the Chinese box office by more than tripling those earnings, despite already being a month into its theatrical run.

“The Eight Hundred” has now earned a total of $425 million (RMB 2.88 billion) since is Aug. 21 debut, making it China’s highest grossing film of the year so far. It is projected to continue on to a total box office of $446 million (RMB 3.02 billion), according to Maoyan estimates.

In contrast, “Mulan” is currently projected to earn just $41 million (RMB 278 million) — less than a tenth of that tally. The film accounted for about 1 in 5 screenings in China over the weekend and only around 16% of total ticket sales.

Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” trailed “Mulan” quite closely to come in third this weekend with earnings of $5.6 million, bringing its Sunday evening cume up to $61.4 million (RMB 415 million). “Tenet” opened in China the week before Disney’s live-action remake.

Despite the fact that Disney went out of its way to make a film that it thought would appeal to Chinese audiences, Nolan’s sci-fi thriller has received better viewer ratings across all platforms and is currently projected by Maoyan to earn $66.9 million (RMB 453 million)— significantly more than “Mulan.”

In fourth place this weekend was an unexpected contender: the 2018 Italian crime thriller “The Invisible Witness (Il Testimone invisible).” Directed and co-written by Stefano Mordini, the film is a remake of the 2016 Spanish thriller “The Invisible Guest,” a title helmed by Barcelona-born Oriol Paulo, which grossed $25 million in China in 2017.

In three days in China, the film earned $2.52 million — nearly half of its entire global box office to date. Prior to its China debut, the film had earned $5.3 million worldwide from just four territories: Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and New Zealand. In China, it has likely benefited from the strong word-of-mouth and positive impressions audiences had of Paulo’s prior film.

In fifth place was Hong Kong film “I’m Livin’ It,” a drama about homeless people who live out of a 24-hour fast food restaurant in the expensive metropolis, starring Aaron Kwok as an out-of-work banker and Miriam Yeung as a struggling singer. It grossed $1.45 million in its opening weekend. Directed by Wong Hing-fan, it won nine nominations and one supporting actor win for Cheung Tat-ming at this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards.

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” the Tom Hanks biopic of children’s TV presenter Fred Rogers, saw its China premiere this weekend, but it had low sales, making just $212,000 in its debut. This put it below the opening weekend of U.K. animated title “Trouble” (which came in sixth with a $940,000 debut) and other titles including “Onward” ($544,000) and “The Blue Defensive Line,” a jingoistic documentary about Chinese UN peacekeeping mission in Africa, which debuted to sales of $483,000.

threads
Mulan-(2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
the 800 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71303-The-Eight-Hundred)

[GeneChing]

Tenet Vs. Mulan: Which Was The Bigger Box Office Success (https://screenrant.com/mulan-tenet-movies-box-office-success-failure-comparison/)
While Tenet pushed ahead with its theatrical release, Mulan was moved to premium VOD on Disney+. Here's how the two movies compared at the box office.

BY HANNAH SHAW-WILLIAMS
4 DAYS AGO

https://static2.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/john-david-washington-tenet-live-action-mulan.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=960&h=500&dpr=1.5n
UPDATE: An earlier version of this article cited reports that Mulan had grossed an estimated $261 million in its first 12 days of premium VOD sales. Those reports have since been flagged as misleading by the analytics company that provided the data, with an updated estimate of $62-93 million in Mulan's first 12 days of release. The article has been updated to reflect this.

Tenet and Mulan were both early fall movie releases that both tried to make the best of a very bad situation. Whereas Tenet determinedly pushed for a theatrical-only release, with the marketing urging audiences to see it on the big screen, Mulan skipped theaters in the U.S. and went straight to Disney+ for a premium VOD price of $29.99.

This week has seen another reshuffle of the Disney release slate, with Black Widow - the last Marvel Studios movie that was still hoping for a 2020 release date - pushed back to May 2021. Other releases, like Warner Bros.' superhero blockbuster Wonder Woman 1984 and Universal's horror sequel Candyman, were also delayed in the wake of Tenet disappointing at the box office. Instead of saving the cinematic experience as intended, Nolan's film inadvertently became a canary down the coal mine. The resulting exodus has left the theatrical release schedule almost completely deserted for the next two months.

Obviously the biggest problem for Tenet was releasing in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, when many theaters in the U.S. were still closed and audiences were reluctant to risk sitting in a room sharing poorly circulated air with a group of strangers for over two hours. But Mulan faced its own challenge in convincing Disney+ subscribers to shell out a steep $29.99 just to watch the movie in their own homes. So, which movie was the bigger box office success.

Tenet's Box Office And Mulan's PVOD Sales

Though they're obviously very different movies with different target audiences, Mulan and Tenet had similar production budgets of around $200 million, and both released on the same weekend in the United States (Tenet released a week earlier in some international markets). Warner Bros. initially reported that Tenet had grossed $20.2 million in its opening weekend, but it was later revealed that this number included previews and the extended Labor Day weekend. Dissecting the reported box office numbers, Collider estimated that the true opening weekend was around $9.5 million. The international ticket sales have been more robust, with Tenet pushing past $250 million worldwide after a month in theaters.

Disney+ sales of Mulan have been kept under wraps by the studio, making it difficult to get a concrete idea of how much money Niki Caro's live-action remake has made. An early report caimed that Mulan has grossed $261 million in sales within the first 12 days of release, but this was later corrected to an estimate of $63-92 million. The release of the film did lead to a spike in Disney+ downloads, suggesting that its exclusive availability on Disney's own streaming platform also brought new subscribers onboard. Factoring in the reduced distribution costs of Mulan's Disney+ release, since theaters aren't taking a cut of box office, Forbes estimates that the higher estimate of $93 million would be equivalent to around $186 million at the box office. Since the data is based on U.S. Disney+ subscribers, Mulan has undoubtedly surpassed Tenet's domestic box office, which as of this week was still only at $36 million. Worldwide, however, it's likely that Tenet has the edge.

Why Tenet Struggled At The Box Office (Even By Current Standards)

With a quarter of U.S. theaters still closed, and the majority of those in the key markets of New York and California, Tenet was never going to make a huge splash at the box office. Under normal circumstances it would have been targeting a similar performance to Nolan's last trippy sci-fi film, Interstellar, which grossed $693.4 million with a $47.5 million opening weekend. While the coronavirus pandemic was undoubtedly a huge handicap, it did give Tenet a couple of slight advantages to go with all the downsides.

Along with the long-delayed Fox movie The New Mutants, Tenet was the first new exclusively theatrical release in the U.S. since Onward's short run all the way back in March, and its promise of big-screen spectacle was tempting for moviegoers who had been cooped up all summer. With New Mutants and other releases offering little in the way of competition, Tenet also had a clear run at the box office for many weeks after its release. Warner Bros. was likely counting on the movie having strong legs rather than packing screens full in its opening weekend (which wouldn't be possible anyway, with current social distancing measures).

As an original sci-fi movie, Tenet wasn't as safe a box office bet as a live-action Disney remake like Mulan. The film was relying on the prestige of Nolan as a director and upon enticingly cryptic trailers to draw audiences in. But unlike Inception, which had a fairly straightforward hook (a heist movie about breaking into people's dreams) as well as rave reviews from critics and strong word of mouth, Tenet's time-inversion premise was harder for general audiences to wrap their heads around, and the trailers were deliberately coy about the actual story. Upon release its critical reception was more mixed, and audience complaints ranged from the sound mix drowning out the dialogue to the plot being incomprehensible on a first viewing. To beat the odds Tenet would have needed to be 2020's must-see film, and the general consensus is that it wasn't.

Mulan's Disney+ Release Made It An Easier Sell

In contrast to the unprecedented circumstances of Tenet's release, Disney had the benefit of seeing how other movies had performed with a premium VOD release. An early success story for family audiences was Universal's Trolls World Tour, which was made available to rent for $19.99. VOD sales are harder to pin down than box office ticket sales, but Trolls World Tour grossed an estimated $100 million in rentals within the first three weeks of its release. Though the price tag was calculated to be the approximate cost of two or three people seeing the movie in theaters, there was backlash to the idea of paying $20 for only 48 hours access to the movie.

Taking cues from both the success of Trolls World Tour and the criticisms of its release, Disney moved Mulan to Disney+ with a higher price point of $29.99, but no time limit on availability and no limit on many times it could be watched. This added rewatch value, something that's a cornerstone of Disney movies (as parents who have heard Frozen's "Let It Go" a hundred times can attest). Though technically Disney+ subscribers who pay the premium fee are still only renting Mulan rather than buying it, since discontinuing the base subscription means losing access, it was effectively set up to feel more like a purchase than a rental.

Neither Mulan Nor Tenet Were True Box Office Successes


https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Mulan-Tenet-Coronavirus.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=370&dpr=1.5
Neither Mulan nor Tenet proved to be an outright success or failure. These were two films with massive budgets that were suddenly faced with one of the biggest financial crises in the history of cinema. Ten-figure hits like last year's Avengers: Endgame and Joker were never going to happen under the current circumstances. The new best case scenario for Warner Bros. and Disney was to lose as little money as possible, with turning an actual profit as a stretch goal.

Putting aside the question of whether or not Warner Bros. was irresponsible to push forward with Tenet's theatrical release as COVID-19 cases were rising in the U.S., the film is looking to end its theatrical run with between $325 and $350 million, per Forbes. The studio will lose money and it would certainly be a major flop under normal conditions, but realistically even great reviews and word of mouth wouldn't have been enough to push it past the break-even point. Mulan is arguably the bigger flop, particularly when it comes to its theatrical release. Despite Disney targeting the lucrative market of China, Mulan is set to make less than half of 2019's The Lion King at the Chinese box office.

The performance of both Tenet and Mulan will already have been put under a microscope by studio analysts, as the film industry fights to adapt to a pandemic-stricken world. So far the main reaction has been to push key releases down the road in the hope that things will get back to normal in 2021. But if the closure of theaters is prolonged by a second wave of coronavirus infections, it's likely that we'll see more movies join Mulan in the move to PVOD.


threads
Mulan-(2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))
Tenet (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71638-Tenet)

[GeneChing]

Wu Assassins star says season 2 will be two movies on Netflix (https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a33929730/wu-assassins-season-2-netflix-movies/)
"They're changing the format."

BY JESS LEE
05/09/2020

Wu Assassins premiered more than one year ago (in August 2019), but there has been no official word on whether Netflix has renewed or cancelled the series.

During an interview with Digital Spy, Tzi Ma – who played Kai's neighbour Mr Young in the first season – said that there are plans for more Wu Assassins, although it will look a little different.

"They're changing the format," he shared. "I think they're going to do two kind of movies of the week instead of a series."

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/wu-assassins-tzi-ma-1567312312.jpg
DANIEL POWER / NETFLIX
Tzi, currently in Vancouver for The CW's Kung Fu reboot series, added that he won't be returning for these movies before explaining that the idea is that each of the two movies will take place in a different location.

"I can't be a part of it because I'm committed to another series," he said. "But I think that's what they're going to do. They're going to do two movies of the week where Iko [Uwais]'s character moves from Thailand and South Africa. But COVID hit.

"I think they were going to shoot in Thailand for one movie, and then shoot in South Africa for the other."

Digital Spy has reached out to Netflix for comment.

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/mulan-tzi-ma-zhou-1598968285.jpg

Right now, Tzi can be seen in the live-action Mulan remake as Mulan's father Zhou. The film launched on Disney+ yesterday (September 4).

"I'm relieved that finally the world is going to get an opportunity to see it. It's really, really an amazing piece of work," he said.

"The film is a celebration. A celebration of culture, a celebration of family, a celebration of women's contributions to our world."

Wu Assassins season 1 is available on Netflix.

Mulan is available exclusively to Disney+ subscribers in selected countries. Premier Access to the movie is priced at £19.99 in the UK and $29.99 in the US.

threads
Wu-Assassins (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70838-Wu-Assassins)
Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020))

[GeneChing]

China Announces It’s Making New ‘Fight Mulan’ Film After Disney’s Flop (https://nextshark.com/mulan-film-from-china-releases-promising-set-images/)

BY RYAN GENERAL
DECEMBER 17, 2020
1 MINUTE READ
https://cdn.statically.io/img/nextshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/mulan.jpg?quality=80&f=auto
A new Mulan film is currently in the works in China and it’s already getting fans excited online.

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Battle ready: The movie, titled “Fight Mulan” (战斗吧木兰), features Chinese actress Yang Ning playing the iconic female warrior, reports Mothership.

https://cdn.statically.io/img/nextshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1-6.jpg?quality=80&f=auto

“Fight Mulan” started filming on Aug. 31 and is scheduled for release on Oct. 5, 2021.
Not much else is known about the movie but it already has fans talking after a poster and stills from the film emerged on social media.

https://cdn.statically.io/img/nextshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2-4.jpg?quality=80&f=autohttps://cdn.statically.io/img/nextshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/4-1.jpg?quality=80&f=autohttps://cdn.statically.io/img/nextshark.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/3-3.jpg?quality=80&f=auto

Many users expressed hope that the upcoming film would do the character and her story better justice than the most recent release from Disney.
Others pointed to another Chinese-made Mulan film released in 2009, which starred popular actress Zhao Wei.
Disney’s flop: Made with a $200 million budget, the live-action version Disney released in September failed to connect with the global audience, barely making $67 million worldwide.

In China, where the film made over $40 million, it was heavily criticized for its acting, plot and inaccuracies.
The film was at least a success for Disney+, which attracted new subscribers, with some 100,000 people paying an additional $30 to access the film.
A Chinese-made animated film about Mulan titled “Kung Fu Mulan” also failed to impress viewers in China and was pulled from theaters just three days after release, as NextShark previously reported.
Feature Image via Channel Fight and Lady Metro

Threads
Fight Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71955-Fight-Mulan)
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Kung Fu Mulan (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71880-Kung-Fu-Mulan)

[GeneChing]

Cannes Screens Bombshell Hong Kong Protest Doc as Late Addition to Official Program (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cannes-2021-kong-protest-documentary-1234981760/)
The festival's inclusion of 'Revolution of Our Times,' a hard-hitting chronicle of police brutality during Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests in 2019, is certain attract the ire of China's ruling Communist Party.

BY PATRICK BRZESKI, ALEX RITMAN
JULY 15, 2021 5:00AM
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AO_Still_20210613_00000006.jpeg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Umbrella-wielding student protestors clash with police on the streets of Hong Kong. DEAR BROS
The Cannes Film Festival made a bombshell, last-minute addition to its lineup this week, inviting select members of the international press to attend a “confidential” screening of Revolution of Our Times, a gripping, politically powerful documentary initially described only as being “about the protests in Hong Kong.” Until its unveiling in Cannes, the film’s existence was not publicly known.

Revolution of Our Times has been scheduled to receive just one official special screening in Cannes, at 11 a.m. on Friday. The semi-secretive manner in which the film’s inclusion was announced initially aroused more curiosity in Cannes than its origins and subject matter.

On late Wednesday, the festival sent an email to the international press stating that a “surprise documentary” had been added to the program. Earlier in the day, however, a small number of film reporters were invited to attend a “confidential” screening in the Palais’ Salle Soixantieme. The Hollywood Reporter‘s correspondent was among the approximately 10 people present at the discreet afternoon showing. The festival requested at the time that no news about the film be released until Thursday afternoon, Cannes time.

As it turns out, the sensitivity surrounding the film appears warranted. Revolution of Our Times is a forensic and hard-hitting chronicle of the mass street protests that erupted in Hong Kong in the second half of 2019 — protests that were met with a brutal police crackdown, hundreds of arrests of activists and pro-democracy advocates, and the eventual imposition of near-total Chinese Communist Party control over the once-semidemocratic former colony. Thanks to Hong Kong’s expansive new National Security Law, imposed by Beijing in 2020, those involved in the new documentary could be subject to arrest and charges of subversion.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AO_Still_20210613_00000001.jpeg
A group of protestors, wearing raincoats to protect against tear gas, march down one of Hong Kong’s main thoroughfares during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. DEAR BROS
Revolution of Our Times is directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Kiwi Chow, 42, best known as one of the directors who contributed to Hong Kong’s 2015 indie hit Ten Years, a sci-fi dystopian anthology film that gathered five shorts, each exploring different ways that Hong Kong might change under Communist Party rule by the year 2025. Chow’s contribution, titled Self-Immolator, was among the politically starkest of the collection, telling the story of an elderly Hong Kong woman who sets herself on fire in protest after witnessing a Hong Kong pro-independence protestor being brutally beaten by police. The segment was considered extreme at the time of its release, but the reality in Hong Kong quickly caught up with Chow’s vision.

Revolution of Our Times uses extensive footage taken from the tumultuous events on the ground in Hong Kong in 2019, as well as interviews with a number of the activists involved (mostly done anonymously and with their faces disguised), to chart the growth of the pro-democracy movement. It simultaneously documents the sharp increase in police brutality as Hong Kong became engulfed in deadly street battles, including the 12-day siege of the Polytechnic University in November 2019. In one of the film’s most shocking moments, a body is seen being pushed out of a high-rise window, with Hong Kong authorities accused of kidnapping and murdering several of the movement’s central figures. The film is said to have been put together entirely in secret.

“Over the past fifty years, Hongkongers have fought for freedom and democracy but have yet to succeed,” reads the synopsis for Revolution of Our Times. “In 2019, the Extradition Bill to China opened Pandora’s box, turning Hong Kong into a battlefield against the Chinese authoritarian rule.”

Chow, it says, made this documentary to tell the story of the movement, “both with a macro view of its historical context and up close and personal on the front lines.”

Aside from Chow, the film states that the majority of those involved in the making of Revolution of Our Times — understandably — use pseudonyms in the credits, with the producer going by “Dear Bros.” Ahead of the credits, it declares that Revolution of Our Times was made “By Hongkongers.”

So far, Cannes organizers have offered no official explanation for the secretive and last-minute nature of Revolution of Our Times‘ addition to the festival program. But sources close to the festival have suggested that precautions were taken to protect the filmmakers.

Industry attendees also have been quick to surmise that the screening of the film — however discreet — is all but certain to upset China’s ruling Communist Party, and could risk the attendance of Chinese films and filmmakers at future editions of the festival.

Chow himself offered a statement of appreciation to the festival, writing: “I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Cannes. It is our honor to have the World Premiere of “Revolution of Our Times”, a film documenting the struggle of Hongkongers, at Cannes; and receive great attention. Hong Kong has been losing far more than anyone has expected, this good news will be a comfort to many Hongkongers who live in fear; it also shows that whoever fights for justice and freedom around the world, ARE with us! And Hongkongers are staying strong!”

Cannes has frequently stood with filmmakers facing political persecution in their home countries, such as Iranian director Jafar Panahi (This Is Not a Film) and Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov (Petrov’s Flu), both of whom were under house arrest and unable to attend the festival when their films were screened.

But Hong Kong’s protest movement has found precious few allies over the past two years, as Beijing has leveraged China’s outsize economic clout to attempt to punish any companies or individuals who dare throw their support behind democracy in Hong Kong.

In October 2019, the NBA — the most popular and profitable U.S. sporting league in China by far — was banned from broadcast in the country for a full year after the Houston Rockets general manager at the time, Daryl Morey, put out a single, seven-word tweet voicing support for Hong Kong’s movement. (“Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”)

In August that same year, Chinese actress Crystal Liu, star of Disney’s China-set action tentpole Mulan, created an international backlash when she voiced her support for the Hong Kong police force’s crackdown on protestors. The activist movement in Hong Kong called for a boycott of Mulan, but Disney, an ardent supporter of social movements in the U.S., such as Black Lives Matter, remained completely mum on the topic of democracy in Hong Kong. Many analysts pointed out at the time that the entertainment conglomerate would very likely see its multibillion-dollar Shanghai Disneyland theme park shuttered by Beijing if it were to speak out on the issue.

Hong Kong politics also are believed to have resulted in the 2021 Oscars ceremony being totally blocked from broadcast in mainland China and Hong Kong earlier this year. Broadcasters and regulators never supplied a reason for the mysterious suspension of the awards show in Greater China, but many connected to the industry believe it was intended as retribution for the Academy’s nomination of the Hong Kong protest film Do Not Split in the best short documentary category (past critical comments made by Oscar best director winner Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) about her home country also irked the authorities).

Beijing has moved with alarming swiftness to crush the Hong Kong movement featured in Revolution of Our Times. The repressive National Security Law put in place in the territory last year has resulted in the arrest of over 100 activists and opposition politicians. The crackdown also has had the intended effect of driving protestors overseas or into a state of self-censorship, as a chill has swept through the city’s creative community and civil society as a whole. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong school curriculum has been rewritten to teach fealty to the Chinese Communist Party, books have been banned, and pro-democracy journalists arrested at their jobs.

In July, The Apple Daily, a popular Hong Kong newspaper that had allied itself with the pro-democracy cause, was forced to close after its offices were raided by Hong Kong police and five of its editors and executives arrested. The CCP said in a statement that the publication had abused “so-called freedom of the press.” The Apple Daily‘s outspoken founder, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, was arrested last year and remains in prison facing charges of national security offenses that carry a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

A recent rewriting of the censorship rules governing Hong Kong’s film industry, once a bastion of cinematic vitality — and the home to Bruce Lee, Wong Kar Wai, Stephen Chow, Jackie Chan, Johnnie To and scores more — will ensure that Revolution of Our Times can never be screened freely in the city.

threads
Cannes[/URL
[URL="http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68640-Mulan-(2020)"]Mulan-(2020) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53853-Cannes)
Hong-Kong-protests (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23536-Hong-Kong-protests)