We’re about halfway through the period of film history that will probably always be remembered as “that time when Disney mined all its old animations for live-action reboots” – and sometime after Aladdin, The Lion King and Dumbo (but before Lady And The Tramp and The Little Mermaid), we’re going to get a new Mulan.
The first image has been released of star Liu Yifei in character – poised for action and looking exactly like you’d expect Mulan to look in real life.
The film is directed by Niki Caro and will reportedly stick closer to the original Chinese folktale than the 1998 animation did – telling the story of a girl who fought in the Imperial Army to save the honour of her sick father. Caro has confirmed that her version of the story will not feature any songs (“much to the horror of my children”), and has described the film as “a big, girly martial arts epic that will be extremely muscular and thrilling and entertaining and moving”.
Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee and Jet Li are all confirmed in the cast list, and Mulan is filming now in China and New Zealand – aiming for a March 2020 release.