Disney Has Found Their Mulan

The live-action Disney that has me the most excited is the obviously The Lion King, but following in a close second is Mulan and we finally know who’ll be playing the title role.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the story just before an official Disney press release, has revealed Chinese actress Liu Yifei will be playing the ethnically Chinese character after a long search.

Apparently casting directors auditioned around 1,000, so no pressure young lady, but I’m sure you’re going to kick ass! Plus Liu looks similar to the animated version and its great Disney went all in for a Chinese actress and not a Chinese-American/Chinese-British.

IMAGE VIA DISNEY

Liu, also known as Crystal Liu, is unknown to the West but is a megastar in China who nickname her as “Fairy Sister” and starred in a film called Once Upon A Time, which earned $82.3 million in the Chinese box office. The 30-year-old has starred in a number of English speaking roles such as The Forbidden Kingdom (alongside Jackie Chan and Jet Li) in 2008 and in the 2014 film Outcast next to Nicholas Cage and Hayden Christensen.

It sounds like Disney feel like they hit the jackpot with Liu, whose fluent in English and with previous roles have the martial arts skills. She’s also a singer so we could hear the two most well-known songs from the 1998 animation, Reflections and I’ll Make A Man Out Of You.

IMAGE VIA GETTY IMAGES

The live-action adaptation of Mulan will be directed by Niki Caro, who recently helmed The Zookeeper’s Wife, and she shut down the rumour the music wouldn’t be in the film back in March saying, “I don’t know where that’s come from. We’ve never talked about songs, no decision has been made.

“It is exciting that people are this passionate.”

It’s going to be an interesting balancing act between respecting the classic 5th-century Chinese tale and making millions of fans of the animation film.

Mulan is eyeing a 2019 release date.