Who is that girl I see? Staring straight, by that green screen.
The live-action adaptation of Disney Animation’s 1998 classic Mulan is finally moving forward.
Production on the film began this past Monday, and with the announcement, Disney shared the first image of Liu Yifei (a Chinese-American actress, singer, and model) as the titular hero Fa Mulan, who is looking very badass.
As with the animated original, the live-action remake (via the official synopsis) will follow Mulan, a young woman who disguises herself as a man to take her father’s place in the Chinese army. Unlike the original though, a number of characters have been changed, or have yet to be confirmed for the remake. For example, Mulan’s love interest Captain Li Shang has been replaced with Chen Honghui, a fellow recruit in the Chinese Army.
We don’t know if the wise cracking Eddie Murphy-voiced dragon Mushu will appear, but maybe that’s for the best. (JUST KIDDING, we love Mushu.)
There will be returning characters though! Ling, the goofy fellow recruit and eventual friend of Mulan, has just been confirmed to appear in the remake, and will be played by Video Game High School alumni Jimmy Wong. Awesome!
Hi everyone. Back in December I found out I got the role of a lifetime, and 8 months later I can finally tell you all about it:
I’M GOING TO BE IN MULAN
I’m joined by some absolute legends as I reprise the role of LING from the original. I can’t wait :)https://t.co/G0ETQQSlSz
— Jimmy (@jfwong) August 14, 2018
In addition to the casting news, the director of the live-action film Niki Caro posted on Instagram (which as since been removed for some reason) a shot of the Liu Yifei as Mulan standing by a cherry blossom tree in what will no doubt be a beautiful scene (once CGI is added).
Based on the casting news, it seems like this adaptation of Mulan will deviate pretty far from the animated original, compared to last year’s Beauty and the Beast, for example. We’re fine with that if that’s the case, and we’ll be happy just as long as “I’ll Make a Man out of You” is included and isn’t changed AT ALL.
Mulan comes to theaters on March 27, 2020.
