Mulan (2020 film)

As early as 2010, Walt Disney Pictures had expressed interest in a live-action adaptation of the 1998 animated film Mulan with international Chinese star Zhang Ziyi, and Chuck Russell chosen as the director. That version of the project never came to fruition.[26]

On March 30, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Disney had restarted development of the live-action adaptation with Chris Bender and J. C. Spink producing, while Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek would be writing the screenplay.[27] On October 4, 2016, it was announced that Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver would rewrite the script, combining the Chinese ballad and the 1998 animated film, while Jason T. Reed would be producing the film along with Bender and Jake Weiner.[28] On February 27, 2020, Reed said that Mulan's sidekick from the original film, Mushu, was removed due to the character's negative reception in China.[12] Reed also said, aside from both the original ballad and the animated film, the filmmakers drew inspiration from different Chinese adaptations of the ballad while writing the film. He stated that, since "[t]he traditional Disney audience and the diaspora Asian audience viewed the movie in one way, and the traditional Chinese in China audience viewed a slightly different way," the filmmakers "dug in to try and make sure that [they are] addressing both of those audiences in a thoughtful way."[12]

Yifei Liu plays Mulan in the remake.

Since several 2010s Hollywood films were accused of whitewashing, Mulan was under intense scrutiny since The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Disney was making a live-action adaptation of the 1998 film. An online petition titled "Tell Disney You Don't Want A Whitewashed Mulan!" received more than 100,000 signatures.[7] On October 4, 2016, Disney announced that a global search for a Chinese actress to portray the title role was underway.[29] A team of casting directors visited five continents and saw nearly 1,000 candidates for the role with criteria that required credible martial arts skills, the ability to speak clear English, and star quality.[30]

On November 29, 2017, Chinese-American actress Yifei Liu was cast in the film to portray the titular role of Mulan. Many celebrated this as a win for diversity in Disney films.[7] Further cast announcements for Donnie Yen, Gong Li, Jet Li, and Xana Tang were made in April 2018,[11][14] Utkarsh Ambudkar and Ron Yuan in May,[31] Yoson An and Chum Ehelepola in June,[15] Jason Scott Lee in July,[13] Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao, Cheng Pei-Pei, Nelson Lee, Jimmy Wong and Doua Moua in August,[23][20] and Chen Tang in September.[21]

Director

Niki Caro, the director of Mulan

Disney originally sought an Asian director. They first considered Ang Lee, the Taiwanese-born director and two-time Academy Award winner for Best Director. The Hollywood Reporter mentioned that Lee was approached but declined, on October 12, 2016.[32] According to the report, published on November 22, 2016, he said that he would like to see an Asian director leading the film, but he had to decline because he was still obliged to promote his film Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk.[33] Next, Disney met with Jiang Wen for the position; finally on February 14, 2017, New Zealander Niki Caro was hired as the director of the film, which made Mulan the second Disney film with a female director and a budget above $100 million, following A Wrinkle in Time.[34]

Principal photography began on August 13, 2018, at locations in New Zealand and China and wrapped on November 25, 2018.[35][23] According to actress Gong Li, the film's production budget was $290–300 million due to the "massive and...unprecedented scale" of the sets,[36][37] although the actual figure was later reported to be $200 million.[3][38] The budget makes Mulan the most expensive film ever directed by a woman.[39]

The visual effects are provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Weta Digital, Framestore, and Image Engine. Seth Maury and Anders Langlands served as visual effects supervisors and Sean Andrew Faden served as production supervisor.[40]

Christina Aguilera recorded two songs for the film including a remake of her song "Reflection" from the 1998 animated film Mulan

Harry Gregson-Williams, who previously worked with Caro on The Zookeeper's Wife, composed the film's score with additional music by Tom Howe and Stephanie Economou.[1] The remake does not feature any songs from the original film, and instead uses instrumental versions of the original film's songs.[41] However, a recreation of the original song "Reflection" had two versions, with one featuring in the film as well as the film's end-credits, as confirmed by the original film's song-writer Matthew Wilder.[42]

Christina Aguilera, who previously performed an end-credits version of "Reflection" for the original film,[43] confirmed during a performance in The Xperience that she had recorded a new version of "Reflection," as well as new material for the remake's soundtrack.[44][45] She also recorded an original single titled "Loyal Brave True".[46] The song was written by Jamie Hartman, Harry Gregson-Williams, Rosi Golan and Billy Crabtree, and produced by Jamie Hartman. The song was also released in Spanish, as "El Mejor Guerrero." A Mandarin-version of the song, titled "自己" ("Zìjǐ"), performed by Yifei Liu was also featured in the soundtrack album.[47] The soundtrack album was released by Walt Disney Records on September 4, 2020.

Mulan's world premiere was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 9, 2020.[57] The film was originally scheduled for a November 2, 2018 theatrical release, but was delayed, with The Nutcracker and the Four Realms taking its slot.[29] It was rescheduled for March 27, 2020[58][59] before being removed from the release calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[60] The film later rescheduled for July 24, 2020, taking the former slot of Jungle Cruise,[61] and then was delayed again to August 21, 2020.[62] On July 23, the film was removed from the release calendar once again.[63][64][65]

On August 4, 2020, Disney announced that it was cancelling the film's theatrical release in the United States, and would instead premiere the film on Disney+ with Premier Access for a premium fee on September 4, 2020.[66] Mulan was available for the purchase until November 2, 2020, and was made available for free to all subscribers on December 4.[67] The film was not offered in France as a premium offering, instead releasing to Disney+ subscribers in the country for free at a later date.[68] Speaking about the US$29.99 price point for the film in the United States, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said, "We're trying to establish a new premiere access window to capture [the] investment we got [in the film]... From our research under a premiere access offering, not only does it get us revenue from our original transaction of PVOD, but it's a fairly large stimulus to sign up for Disney+."[66] The premium fee was approximately US$26.00 in other countries when considering conversion rates for their native currencies.[68] Unlike other premium VOD releases that feature a 48-hour viewing window, Mulan remains available to renters for as long as they stay subscribed to Disney+.[69]

The film was still released theatrically in countries where theaters had re-opened, and do not have Disney+.[66] In China, the film was released on September 11, 2020.[70]

Mulan received a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association, the first Disney live-action remake to be given such a rating.[71]

Mulan was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Digital HD on October 6, 2020, followed by a DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray release on November 10, 2020.[72]

Tibetans protesting the film in Times Square. Protestors held placards criticizing the film's Oscar nominations and accusing Disney/ABC of ignoring human rights violations in Xinjiang.

Criticism has been directed at the fact that filming took place in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, where human rights abuses are taking place. At the end of the credits, the film gives special thanks to several government entities in Xinjiang, including the now-sanctioned Xinjiang Public Security Bureau in Turpan, and several local committees of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party.[74][75] The public security bureau in Turpan was added to the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List in October 2019.[76][77]

According to Reuters, after the controversy about the film's links with Xinjiang erupted overseas, the Chinese government ordered media outlets not to cover the release of Mulan.[78] At a September 10 conference, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said in response to the controversy that "almost the entirety" of the film had been shot in New Zealand, but that 20 Chinese locations were used to "accurately depict some of the unique landscape and geography of the country".[79][80] US Senator Josh Hawley sent a letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek asking, among other things, for clarification on Chinese government involvement in the film.[81] The Human Rights Foundation also sent a letter to Chapek asking Disney to condemn human rights violations and consider donating some of the film's earnings to promote human rights in Xinjiang.[81][82][83]

In September 2020, 135 British MPs signed a letter condemning China's human rights abuses, addressed to Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to the U.K. The petition was written in response of a BBC video detailing the production of Mulan.[84][85] On October 7, 2020, British politician Iain Duncan Smith sent an email to Disney, criticizing the filming in Xinjiang, with Disney defending it, saying, "it is standard practice across the film industry worldwide to acknowledge in a film's credits the cooperation, approvals, and assistance provided by various entities and individuals over the course of a film's production." Smith responded by saying, "Disney's corporate policy does not appear to care about the human rights issues," on Twitter.[86]

There was criticism over having a production team largely composed of people of non-Asian/Chinese descent, such as for the roles of director, costume designer, and screenwriter.[87]

Disney received some criticism for not hiring an Asian director. In a February 2020 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Niki Caro responded to the criticism by saying "Although it's a critically important Chinese story and it's set in Chinese culture and history, there is another culture at play here, which is the culture of Disney, and that the director, whoever they were, needed to be able to handle both — and here I am."[88] In an August 2020 interview with Film School Rejects, Caro responded further to the criticism, saying "Firstly, I resist the idea that you tell somebody who can tell what story. That sounds a little bit like censorship to me. An artist will express themselves, and the burden of responsibility is on the art. That will be judged — and should be judged. The other side of it is that more diverse people need to be allowed to tell stories. That's what it comes down to. The people who are hired for all kinds of stories need to be more diverse. It can't just be white people being hired to make movies, no matter what the subject matter is. Our culture is going to be richer for the more diversity there is, and the art, the movies, the television, it will be better. The more this conversation is being had, the more that diverse artists are given opportunities."[89]

In a February 27, 2020 interview, film producer Jason T. Reed said that Mulan's love interest from the original film, Captain Li Shang, was dropped in response to the MeToo movement. In his statement, he explained that "having a commanding officer that is also the sexual love interest was very uncomfortable and we didn't think it was appropriate".[90] The reasoning behind the removal was met with social media backlash from fans of the original film and members of the LGBTQ community, who deemed Shang's relationship with Mulan's male alter ego Ping to be bisexual.[91][92] Reed was initially surprised by criticism of Shang's removal, but acknowledged that the character had become a "LGBTQ icon",[93] and clarified that Shang's role would be served by two new characters, Commander Tung and Chen Honghui.[91][93]

In September 2020, Cynthia Vinney of CBR wrote that Honghui's interactions with Mulan were "more homoerotic" than Li Shang's in the animated version and likewise "can be read as bisexual".[94] Lauren Puckett of Harper's Bazaar wrote "Some fans understood and agreed with the #MeToo argument. Others found it offensive, arguing that Shang would never use his commanding position to coerce a woman into romance. He waited until after she was no longer under his command to pursue any sort of romantic relationship. And anyway, it was Mulan who had the crush on him! [...] Despite [Honghui's] attraction, he hardly has the same respect for her that brave and beautiful Li Shang did."[95]

A call to boycott the film began when Yifei Liu reshared an image posted by the People's Daily, an official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. The image included a quote from Chinese reporter Fu Guohao who worked for the state-owned tabloid Global Times and was subsequently assaulted by protesters during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests: "I support Hong Kong police. You can beat me now. What a shame for Hong Kong." This sparked international controversy, with Liu being accused of supporting police brutality in Hong Kong. The hashtag #BoycottMulan started trending, which advocated for a boycott of the film.[96][97][98] In response to the controversy, Liu was not present at the 2019 D23 Expo, despite presenting an exclusive sneak peek of the film to fans.[99]

Variety estimated Mulan would need to be rented by about 8.4 million subscribers (13.8%) in order to break even.[54] On the weekend of the film's release, the Disney+ app was downloaded 68% more than the past weeks' total, similar to the 72% spike upon Hamilton's release that July.[100] Deadline Hollywood reported that industry sources with knowledge of the situation "are figuring that Disney may not have earned great presales" and that they could put Mulan on a third-party service before the December release.[101] However, following the film's opening weekend, Business Insider reported it had been viewed by 1.12 million households (only including users renting with TV-connected devices), which would result in $33.5 million in sales for Disney.[102] Yahoo! Finance then reported that, according to analytics research firm 7Park Data, nearly 29% of U.S. Disney+ subscribers that accessed the app from September 1 to 12 purchased Mulan, which in the best-case scenario would result in $261 million for Disney.[103] 7Park Data co-founder Brian Lichtenberger stated Yahoo! Finance overestimated Mulan's revenue, as their figures were for accounts active during that period and not the total subscriber base, and clarified that 10.3% of all accounts purchased the film, with U.S. revenue estimated to be $62–93 million; Yahoo! Finance amended their article to reflect this.[104][105]

According to Nielsen ratings, Mulan was one of the top ten most-watched streams in the United States between August 31 and September 6, 2020. During its opening weekend between September 4–6, Mulan drew 525 million streaming minutes in the United States.[106]

In its first weekend of being available on other digital platforms, Mulan was the top-rented film on FandangoNow, and third on both Apple TV and Google Play.[107] In its second weekend in the open market, the film placed second at Fandango, fourth on Google Play, and fifth at Apple TV.[108] In October 2020, The Hollywood Reporter said the film was the most popular PVOD title amid the COVID-19 pandemic,[109] and the following month Variety reported the film was the sixth-most watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020 up to that point.[110]

Mulan grossed $5.9 million from nine countries in its international opening weekend, including $1.2 million in Thailand and $700,000 in Singapore, both of which were the highest debuts of 2020 in the respective countries. It also made $800,000 in both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.[111][112] In its second weekend the film made $29.1 million from 17 countries, including $1.8 million in Russia and finishing first in Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, and South Africa.[113] Through three weekends the film had grossed $57 million internationally.[114]

The film made $23.2 million on its opening weekend in China, a low figure but a 23% improvement upon Aladdin's debut the year before.[113] Several factors, such as the film only receiving an official Chinese release date days before, giving little chance to build a strong marketing campaign, the film's Disney+ digital release resulting in pirated copies online, a lack of local press coverage due to the film being partially shot in the controversial Xinjiang region and to avoid drawing attention to the political controversies surrounding the film, as well as low reception from fans on sites such as Maoyan and Douban, were cited as contributing to the film's muted performance.[113][115][116] The film fell 72% in its second weekend in the country to $6.5 million.[114]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 73% of 317 critic reviews were positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's critical consensus read, "It could have told its classic story with greater depth, but the live-action Mulan is a visual marvel that serves as a stirring update to its animated predecessor."[117] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 52 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[118]

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, praising the "fine cast, exciting action and spectacular visuals" and writing, "This is such a great-looking film, with amazing set pieces and dazzling action and colors so vibrant they would dazzle a Crayola factory, it will still play well on your home monitor. There are so many gorgeous shades of orange and magenta, blue and yellow, it's as if we’re seeing these colors for the first time."[119] Kate Erbland of IndieWire gave the film a "B+", calling it a "remarkable action epic that carves its own path" and wrote, "Mulan is perhaps the best example of how to marry the original with something fresh. 'The Ballad of Mulan' has always been an epic-scale story about the power of being yourself in a world not ready to accept that, a tale that will likely always have resonance."[120]

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+ and described it as "a classic hero(ine)'s tale, exhilarating in its elaborate set pieces and large-scale ambitions even when the smaller human story within it sometimes falls short."[121] Writing for Variety, Peter Debruge said, "On one hand, the result isn't immediately recognizable as 'a Disney movie,' but neither does it establish its own narrative or visual signature, the way Tarantino did when remixing Asian influences for Kill Bill. This is pure pastiche, as Caro and her crew shamelessly pilfer from kung fu, Fifth Generation and Hong Kong action movies, incorporating anime and Bollywood touches as well."[122]

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Mulan is a spirit lifter, and though it doesn't arrive as planned, it could not arrive at a better time", saying "Throughout Mulan, there are shots of such visual splendor that viewers will catch their breath. In one, the morning mist clears and reveals an army in the distance, with its flags and colors, a frightening yet strangely beautiful sight."[123] Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Mulan is a heroic muddle, one that elicits both a disappointed sigh and an appreciative nod. It lays down a marker of progress achieved and progress to come."[124]

Aja Romano of Vox wrote, "The Mulan remake jettisons everything great about Disney's animated classic and delivers nothing new." and "Mulan's few bright spots can't save it from clunky writing"[125]

Anupama Chopra of Film Companion wrote, "Mulan should have been a much better film. I loved the 1998 animated original. The live action version doesn’t have songs or the sassy, talking dragon Mushu. The beats are predictable and it’s decidedly odd to see Chinese people speaking with American accents. But I’m a sucker for father-daughter stories."[126]

Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central gave the film one half out of four stars, writing, "[E]verything about this Mulan is ironic accidentally. Whatever its intentions, its execution and the circumstances of its creation are in opposition to them. It's a feminist tract that enforces male notions of value; a call to arms that fights for the wrong side of our current history; and a proud statement of national identity that celebrates the Nation of Disney as opposed to China. It's majestically painful as a representation of how white people view Asians and, yes, it would be different had an Asian person been allowed to direct the film."[127]

Grace Wong of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "The animated Mulan meant so much to me, and the character I grew up loving taught me that being loyal, brave and true means standing up for what you believe in, no matter the cost. Today, I believe Mulan would be on the side of the Hong Kong protesters, who also fight to have independence, their voices heard and their lives valued. I hoped to see these threads in the new iteration. Instead we got an almost unrecognisable, twisted reflection of the original."[128]

Hamilton College professor Zhuoyi Wang argues that the film "is not, as many believe, just another Disney film suffering from simple artistic inability, cultural insensitivity, or political injustice, but a window into the tension-ridden intersectionality of the gender, sexual, racial, cultural, and political issues that shape the production and reception of today’s cross-cultural films." "The film made significant compromises between its goals of cultural appropriateness, progressive feminism, and monetary success. Although it eventually failed to satisfactorily resolve these at times conflicting missions, it still achieved important progress in addressing some serious gender and cultural problems in Mulan’s contemporary intertextual metamorphosis, especially those introduced by the Disney animation."[129]

Mulan was poorly received by Chinese critics and audiences. The film scored 4.7 out of 10 on the rating site Douban after its debut.[130] Reviewers on Douban contended that the film had flat characters and a bland story with details that did not make sense. Many people also appeared unsatisfied with how the film handles certain Chinese cultural elements. One of the more common complaints about the film is its treatment of qi. Qi is a traditional idea in martial arts and Chinese medicine concerning a person's energy flow. But in Mulan, qi becomes a magical power that the eponymous heroine possesses. That power is limited by dishonesty, keeping Mulan from realizing her full potential until she strips away her disguise as a man. Other Chinese viewers complained about some of the characters' make-up, saying that it reflects Western stereotypes of China, rather than being a reflection of actual Chinese culture.[131][132] As of December 2020, it scored 5.0.[133]

Yanni Chow and Carol Mang of Reuters wrote that the film had "a lacklustre reception in Hong Kong" amidst calls from pro-democracy activists for a boycott.[116]