March 9, 2020 (Hollywood)
September 4, 2020 (United States)
Mulan is a 2020 American fantasy action drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Niki Caro, with a screenplay by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Lauren Hynek, and Elizabeth Martin, it is a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1998 animated film of the same name, itself based on the Chinese folklore story, "The Ballad of Mulan". The film stars Yifei Liu in the title role, alongside Donnie Yen, Tzi Ma, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Ron Yuan, Gong Li, and Jet Li in supporting roles. The plot takes place in Imperial China, where Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, masquerades as a man to take her ailing father's place during a general conscription to counter the Rouran army.
Plans for a live-action remake began in 2010 but the project stalled in "development hell" for most of the decade. Filming took place in New Zealand and China from August to November 2018. Over the course of production, the film was the subject of several controversies, including changes to the source material and filming in Xinjiang in light of the Uyghur genocide and Xinjiang internment camps. The film also received criticism for its production team largely consisting of white people, such as the hiring of Caro, rather than an Asian director.
Mulan held its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 9, 2020. The film was originally scheduled for a wide theatrical release later that month, but was cancelled in the United States after being delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, the film was released on September 4, 2020 by Disney+ for a premium fee in countries where the service had launched. The film had a traditional theatrical release in countries without Disney+ where theaters had re-opened. Due to its overall limited theatrical release as a result of the pandemic however, the film grossed just under $70 million (Disney+ Premier Access revenue not included) against a production budget of $200 million. The film received generally positive reviews from Western critics, who praised the action sequences, costumes, visuals, and performances, but the film was criticized for the screenplay and editing. It received unfavorable reviews from fans of the original and Chinese critics, who criticized the character development, and its cultural and historical inaccuracies. At the 93rd Academy Awards, the film received nominations for Best Costume Design and Best Visual Effects.
