Now thatDisneyhas locked in Liu Yifei, a.k.a. Crystal Liu, to playMulanin the studio’s live-action remake, the studio has moved on to round out the cast. Chinese superstarDonnie Yenhas been cast inMulanas Commander Tung, who is described as a mentor and teacher to Mulan. There was no Commander Tung character in the original 1998 animated filmMulan, so it seems likely this is a new character created specifically for this live-action remake.
Liu Yifei was cast as the title characterback in late November, although no further characters have been cast at this time. This new casting report comes just over a month after Disney pushed theMulanrelease date from an unspecified date in 2019to June 28, 2025. As of now,Mulanwill go up against Paramount’sG.I. Joe 3on that date, although that will change in the next two years. There had been reports that production was set to begin in January of this year, but filming hasn’t begun yet and there is no indication when shooting may start.
While Disney hasn’t released an official synopsis forMulanyet, director Niki Caro explained last March that this version ofMulanwill not be a musical, like the 1998 animated movie. Instead,this live-action remakewas described by the director as a “girly martial arts movie.” The studio has already insisted that the movie will have an all-Asian cast, to avoid any potential whitewashing controversy, and so far, the studio has lived up to that promise. Given that this story will not be a musical like the original, it will be interesting to see what other characters from the original animated movie will be featured, and which won’t.
Ming-Na Wen lead the voice cast of the original movie, which also included a diverse array of stars ranging from Eddie Murphy as Mushu to B.D. Wong as Shang, George Takei as First Ancestor, voice over legend Frank Welker as Khan, Pat Morita as The Emperor, Miguel Ferrer as Shan-Yu, Harvey Fierstein as Yao, June Foray as Grandmother Fa and James Hong as Chi Fu. The originalMulanwas a box office hit, earning $120.6 million domestic and $304.3 million worldwide. Whether or not this live-action remake canreplicate that kind of success 20 years laterremains to be seen.
Niki Caro is directing from a script by Lauren Hynek, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver and Elizabeth Martin, with Chris Bender, Jason Reed and Jake Weiner producing. While Donnie Yen has become well-known to Western audiences lately through his recent roles as Chirrut Imwe inRogue One: A Star Wars Story, Xiang inXXX: The Return of Xander Cageand theIp Manmovie series, the actor has been a superstar in Hong Kong for many years. He also recently starred inCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, and he recently started filmingIp Man 4, which will be the final installment in theIp Mansaga.Deadlinebroke the news about Donnie Yen’s casting earlier today.
