Jan de Bont is taking on the director’s chair for an adaptation of the Ballad of Mulan, and they have found their star. Zhang Ziyi!
Jan de Bont (Speed, Twister) will direct an English-language live-action telling of Mulan, the story about the young female warrior named Hua Mulan who joins an all-male army. Chinese superstar Zhang Ziyi will portray the title heroine first mentioned in a 6th century poem titled “The Ballad of Mulan” which was popularized around the world by Disney’s musical telling of the ancient story.
I find Zhang Ziyi to be utterly captivating. Aside from her heavenly visage, she has a presence that magically portrays vulnerability and strength all at the same time. This is a perfect combination for the story of a woman who risks death to defend her family’s honour.
No doubt this will get compared to Disney’s Mulan, however this is not a Disney production and the creative license Disney took with the legend will likely differ from this portrayal.
I can’t wait for this.
I will look forward to it mainly cuz of Ziyi Zhang. She is a favourite of mine ever since Crouching Tiger and has a lot of versatility as an actress.
Is this the same fellow who (supposedly) had gotten rights from Bram Stoker’s family estate to do a sequel to the original novel and film? Whatever happened to that project????
How is this not a Disney movie? Other sites are reporting that Disney is in fact funding this movie, so would that not make it a Disney movie?
Because Disney has nothing to do with it. If a site is reporting Disney’s involvement in this project they are incorrect. I haven’t seen any say it.
This is an independent production that will be co-produced by Movie Plus Productions of Canada, Global Film Finance of the U.K., Beijing-based Bona International Film Group and SIMF Pictures, with Zhang, Ling Lucas and Beaver Kwei.
No Disney in site.
I can not post the direct link here, but this was taken from ScreenRant on July 30th when I first heard about this via a Disney Fan Site
“The ancient tale of Mulan will be brought to the big screen once again in an English-language 3D film that is being funded by Walt Disney Pictures and produced by Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi.
Disney – which released an animated version of the story back in 1998 – has agreed to invest $100 million into the project, which will be directed by Charles Russel (The Scorpion King). Not too shockingly, Zhang is set to star in the lead role as well.”
“Unlike the in-development Cinderella and Tinker Bell movies, this live-action revision of an animated classic did not originate with Disney but was brought to them by Ziyi. What effect this will have on the development of the latest cinematic treatment of the Mulan legend is not clear at this point.
This is still a significant financial investment – even for the likes of the Mouse House – so I wouldn’t expect the final product to be especially gritty or adult-oriented. It will most likely have some lavish production values and be filled with PG-13 action sequences (a la Pirates of the Caribbean).”
My bad, I was going by an older article, where a newer one said that Disney was to be involved but is no longer investing in it
I hope it is done well, I am a really big fan of Zhang Ziyi. I think she is truly one of the most beautiful women on screen. And I do mean beautiful, not just hot or sexy but truly gorgeous. Loved her in Crouching Tiger and Memoirs of a Geisha so can’t wait to see her in this film.
Mulan is the best Disney movie. Irrelevant but true.
I can’t wait to see this film, Mulan is one of my favorite Disney movies, can’t wait to see it translated to a live-action movie. I saw Zhang Ziyi for the first time in Crouching Tiger, and later in House of Flying Daggers, in both movies she performed great :)
This is not a live action adaptation of the Disney story, but rather based on the same poem that Disney got their character from.
She was excellent in Horsemen.
I wonder how much different this will be from the OTHER live-action mulan that had been released on DVD and Blu-Ray not too long ago.