Disney is going full speed ahead on its various live-action remakes. We're already eagerly anticipating the arrival of 'Aladdin' and 'The Lion King', yet now, another title seems raring to go: 'Mulan' and there's already a few names linked to the production.
Gong Li and Jet Li, two of the world's most well-known Chinese actors, are the latest to sign onto the project. Gong Li, known for her work on '2046', 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and 'Miami Vice' will play the villain. Jet Li is set to play the Chinese emperor, but he's still finalising his contract according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The latter actor is a pretty big star, having worked on 'The Shaolin Temple', 'Lethal Weapon 4', 'Romeo Must Die' and sagas like 'Once Upon a Time in China' and 'The Expendables'. Only 54 years old, Li is significantly younger than his animated counterpart, so, we wonder: will we get to see him in action?
Gong Li will be portraying a newly incorporated, powerful witch, which is a considerable difference to the original 'Mulan' villain, Shan Yu, leader of the Huns. It seems the new film aims to be a lot different to its predecessor.
The cast's already taking shape
Alongside the aforementioned actors will be the Chinese-Vietnamese actress, Xana Tang from 'Filthy Rich' who'll play Mulan's sister. That's another difference right there: in the original film, Mulan was an only child. Donnie Yen from 'Rogue One' will play Mulan's teacher whilst the protagonist herself will be played by Yifei Liu.
Niki Caro ('Whale Rider') is set to direct the live-action remake and filming is to commence this summer in China and New Zealand. 'Mulan' was originally going to premiere at the beginning of this year, but we'll now get to see the upcoming film on 27th March 2020.
