| Mulan | |
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&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Mulan_(2020_film)_poster.jpg) Official release poster | |
| Directed by | Niki Caro |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Mandy Walker |
| Edited by | David Coulson |
| Music by | Harry Gregson-Williams[1] |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 115 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $200 million[3] |
| Box office | $69.9 million[4][5] |
Mulan is a 2020 American fantasy action drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Niki Caro from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Lauren Hynek, and Elizabeth Martin, it is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1998 animated film Mulan, itself based on the Chinese folklore story Ballad of Mulan. The film stars Yifei Liu in the title role, alongside Donnie Yen, Tzi Ma, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Ron Yuan, Gong Li, and Jet Li in supporting roles. It was also Cheng Pei-pei's final film before her death in 2024. In the film, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, masquerades as a man to take her ailing father's place during a general conscription to counter the Rouran army in Imperial China.
Plans for a live-action remake began in 2010 but the project stalled in development hell for most of the decade. Filming took place in New Zealand and China from August to November 2018. Over the course of production, the film was the subject of several controversies, including changes to the source material and filming in Xinjiang in light of the persecution of Uyghurs in China and Xinjiang internment camps. The film also received criticism for its production team largely consisting of people of non-Chinese descent. This included the hiring of Caro, rather than an Asian director.
Mulan held its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 9, 2020. The film was originally scheduled for a wide theatrical release later that month, but was cancelled in the United States after being delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, the film was released on September 4, 2020, by Disney+ for a premium fee known as Premier Access in countries where the service had launched.[6] The film had a traditional theatrical release in countries without Disney+ where theaters had re-opened.
Due to its overall limited theatrical release as a result of the pandemic, the film grossed $69.9 million at the box office against a production budget of $200 million. The film received generally positive reviews from Western, non-Asian critics, who praised the action sequences, costumes, and performances, but was criticized for the screenplay and editing. It received unfavorable reviews from fans of the original animated film, Chinese diaspora, and Chinese critics, who criticized the character development, its cultural and historical inaccuracies, and its depiction of Chinese people. At the 93rd Academy Awards and 26th Critics' Choice Awards, the film received nominations for its costume design and visual effects, as well as a Best Special Visual Effects nod at the 74th British Academy Film Awards.
- ^ "Harry-Gregson-Williams to Score Disney's 'Mulan' Live-Action Movie". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on August 24, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
- ^ "Mulan (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. March 12, 2020. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- ^ Pallotta, Frank (February 14, 2020). "Disney's 'Mulan' was supposed to be a big hit in China. The coronavirus could threaten that". CNN Business. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
- ^ "Mulan (2020)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
- ^ "Mulan (2020)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Archived from the original on August 21, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
- ^ Katz, Brandon (September 2, 2020). "The Disney Movies That Could Follow 'Mulan' to Premier Access". Observer. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.