With all of the great success Disney has had with its recent remakes, it’s no surprise they’ll be continuing the trend, this time with the fan favorite heroine Mulan set to take the lead. Based on the 1998 animated feature Mulan, which in turn was based on the Chinese legend of a girl leading an army to save China, the film will likely continue Disney’s success with live-action remakes.
Mulan did very well when it was first released, earning $304.3 million worldwide. It tells the story of a young woman who disguises herself as a man in order to serve in the emperor’s army so her injured father doesn’t have to. She goes on to save the emperor and all of China from the invading Huns, reflecting the real Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, a warrior woman who served her country for 12 years before returning home without accepting any awards for her service, and who was originally depicted in the poem Ballad of Mulan.
The film will be made from a script already bought by Disney and written by Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek, and will be produced by Chris Bender and J. C. Spink. As mentioned before, Disney has had enormous success with remakes in the past few years. The most recent remake, Cinderella, has earned $336.2 million worldwide since opening only three weeks ago. Disney’s other remakes, Maleficent (2014) and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010), made huge earnings during their release and home theater sales.
Mulan is not the only Disney heroine set for a reboot. Disney is also moving forward with a live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson, and there are also remakes planned for The Jungle Book and Dumbo (also set to be directed by Tim Burton), in addition to an Alice in Wonderland sequel. As all of these are already so far in development, it’ll probably be a few years before Mulan comes to theaters.