Bosco685 Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Quote The high-profile remake, with an all-Asian cast, a PG-13 rating and a politically-charged star, was always going to pose major risks. Then the coronavirus upended its entire release plan. Liu Yifei, star of Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, lives in Beijing, but she is originally from Wuhan, epicenter of the coronavirus. In January, the 32-year-old actress left China for Los Angeles to begin press for the film, weeks before the virus' outbreak, which has now infected more than 77,000 people, killed more than 2,500 and wreaked havoc in her home country. She says she doesn't have any family or close friends personally affected by the disease — she left Wuhan when she was 10 — but the epidemic has added an impossible-to-foresee variable to her film's March 27 worldwide release. Liu pauses when asked about the outbreak. "It's really heavy for me to even think about it," she says. "People are doing the right thing. They are being careful for themselves and others. I'm so touched actually to see how they haven't been out for weeks. I'm really hoping for a miracle and that this will just be over soon." In China, Liu is a household name, nicknamed "Fairy Sister" for her elegance and beauty. Modeling since age 8, she broke out in the 2003 Chinese TV series Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, a commercial hit in China and the highest-rated Chinese drama in Taiwan at the time, and hasn't stopped working in film and TV since, earning fashion partnerships with Adidas, Shiseido and Armani along the way. Disney and director Niki Caro selected Liu from more than 1,000 aspirants from around the world to star as Hua Mulan, the Chinese heroine who disguises herself as a man to fight in the Imperial Army in a film carefully designed to appeal to Western and Chinese audiences alike. But now there's a question of when Mulan will be released in China. With the coronavirus shutting down all 70,000 of the country's theaters since Jan. 24, it's unclear — and more unlikely every day — that multiplexes will reopen in time for its planned release. (Several high-profile U.S. films, including Universal's Dolittle and 1917 and Searchlight's Jojo Rabbit, saw their February releases scrapped.) "It certainly has worldwide and global appeal, but there's no denying that this is a very important film for the Chinese market," says Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "It's a huge blow for Disney if it doesn't release in China." Disney president of production Sean Bailey says he's "looking at it day by day." Of course, this puts added pressure on the $200 million budgeted film — the priciest of Disney's recent live-action remakes — to perform in the U.S. and the rest of the world. Liu, who is enveloped in her own storm of controversy based on a political social media post about the Hong Kong protests, says she is trying hard not to think about all that. "It would really be a loss for me if I let the pressure overtake my possibilities," says the actress, who learned English when she lived in New York as a child for four years with her mother, a dancer, after her parents' divorce. Even before the outbreak of the virus, Mulan — the first Disney-branded film with an all-Asian cast and the first to be rated PG-13 (for battle scenes) — would have marked one of the studio's riskiest live-action films to date. While the original 1998 Mulan was a critical and commercial hit, garnering a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination and grossing more than $300 million worldwide ($475 million today), it faltered at the Chinese box office. Part of the reason is that the Chinese government stalled its premiere for nearly a year because of lingering anger over Disney's 1997 release of Kundun, Martin Scorsese's Dalai Lama movie that dealt with China's occupation of Tibet. By the time Mulan reached theaters in late February 1999, most children had returned to school after the Chinese New Year holiday and pirated copies were widely available. For the new film, the plan was to counter piracy by releasing the movie in China the same day as the rest of the world, a strategy that's no longer possible. Man, coronavirus is really taking its toll on people directly and their entertainment in large gathering areas. But with Disney it is theme parks and now films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted August 29, 2020 Author Share Posted August 29, 2020 Mulan Releases To All Disney+ Subscribers For Free in December Quote Mulan will become available to all Disney+ subscribers in December, just three months after its theatrical and Premier Access streaming release. Disney's Mulan will become available to all Disney+ subscribers in December. The film, a live-action remake of Disney's 1998 animated classic of the same name, has had a continuously shifting release date. Like every big theatrical release in 2020, Mulan faced delays due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The film had its premiere on March 9, 2020, and was originally set to have its wide release on March 27. However, with social distancing guidelines in place and the closure of movie theaters around the world, the film was delayed. First to July 2020 and then again to August, before Disney removed it from their release schedule altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
▫️ Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 The title of that article is funny. Like HBO saying they will release Game of Thrones for free to all subscribers. Mulan will cost you seven bucks a month and it will be gone the moment you decide you don’t want to pay seven bucks a month. If you choose to watch Mulan early, well it’s $37.00... and then $7.00 every month after. And I have no problem with any of the pricing but call it what it is. Disney could have shown some class during these hard times by releasing Mulan to all paid subscribers at no additional cost at its release. We are already paying for Disney+. Netflix has never asked me to pay anything on top of the monthly charge. Actually to be fair, T-Mobile pays for my Netflix but that’s beside the point! WolverineX and Bosco685 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
media_junkie Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 Obviously Disney wants to make all the money it can on this film since I am sure it cost a butt load to make, however I'm not sure by them announcing "We are going to charge you $37 in September to watch this movie.", then to follow it up a week later with "We will only charge you $7.00 to see this movie if you wait until December", is going to be good for the financial viability of getting their production money back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzetta Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 I always assumed it would be on Disney+ eventually. I love me some Disney... with that said... I love me some $30 and was going to wait until it appeared on the Streaming service I am already paying for. ▫️ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted September 1, 2020 Author Share Posted September 1, 2020 59 minutes ago, Buzzetta said: I always assumed it would be on Disney+ eventually. I love me some Disney... with that said... I love me some $30 and was going to wait until it appeared on the Streaming service I am already paying for. piper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted September 3, 2020 Author Share Posted September 3, 2020 "I've studied battle tactics: this film has battle tactics!" She will say ANYTHING for a dollar. Anything at all you want. No matter the craziness of the statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 NPR: 'Mulan' Reboot Is Beautiful, But Fails To Breathe New Life Into An Old Tale Quote I'm glad to have seen Mulan in a theater months ago; having rewatched it recently at home from a digital screener, I can say that it isn't remotely the same experience. Mulan, while far from a great movie, was clearly made for the big screen. Director Niki Caro doesn't skimp on spectacle: She handles the large-scale action sequences with flair, and she fills the frame with beautiful costumes and majestic landscapes — many of them from New Zealand, which stands in nicely for China. But I wish the movie's engagement with Chinese culture went deeper than that gorgeous surface — that it succeeded in breathing fresh dramatic life into this oft-told tale. Many novelists, playwrights and filmmakers have already tackled the ancient folk legend of Hua Mulan, a warrior who famously disguised herself as a man and fought valiantly in the Chinese army. In addition to drawing inspiration from the epic poem The Ballad of Mulan, the movie is a live-action remake of Disney's charming 1998 animated film Mulan. But Caro strikes a more serious tone. There are no fast-talking dragon sidekicks here and no upbeat musical numbers. That's a bit of a shame, frankly: The stiffly earnest -script could have used a little more showbiz pizazz. Spinning a Chinese legend into family-friendly entertainment with worldwide appeal is admittedly a tricky business these days, especially when a story about the distant past collides with present-day politics. Mulan already generated controversy after the lead actress, Liu, expressed support for the recent police crackdown in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., the movie is being sold as a triumph of Asian representation, which does make its absence from theaters all the more disappointing. I wish you could see this movie on the big screen. I also wish it were better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 Wooden, safe, unrelatable Overall: C- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 Distinguishing itself from the other live remakes, it makes a satisfying case for its existence. Overall: 8.0/10 (Great) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 Feeling torn with this movie as cinematography is gorgeous. But it is very much look and sound, and unengaging with character and story. Overall: If I paid $30, I would have been under-whelmed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 One of the great things this movie does is brings new elements along with nostalgia from the original animated film. But editing was choppy disrupting the emotional scenes. Overall: 7.0/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 Different from the animated film in that it is an adventure epic with no music or comedy. Beautiful cinematography. Well-done action film but lacking the edge. Overall: 7.0/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
▫️ Posted September 4, 2020 Share Posted September 4, 2020 I’m mad as hell right now. After I ranted and raved that I wouldn’t pay 30 bucks and that we can wait, my daughters texted me that they really wanted to watch it. Today. I hope Disney burns in hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theCapraAegagrus Posted September 4, 2020 Share Posted September 4, 2020 5 minutes ago, Grails said: I’m mad as hell right now. After I ranted and raved that I wouldn’t pay 30 bucks and that we can wait, my daughters texted me that they really wanted to watch it. Today. I hope Disney burns in hell. The other day, guys on the radio said, "just make sure your kids don't hear about it" because it'll be added to the Disney+ catalog in December. No additional fee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperheart Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, Grails said: I’m mad as hell right now. After I ranted and raved that I wouldn’t pay 30 bucks and that we can wait, my daughters texted me that they really wanted to watch it. Today. I hope Disney burns in hell. hand them a hammer and point at their piggy banks Edited September 5, 2020 by paperheart Keys_Collector 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisco37 Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 We watched it last night. My daughter wanted to see it. I figure since we haven’t been to the movies since last year, I could pony up the $30 bucks (about the cost for the 3 of us to go see it at the theater). She enjoyed it, and I thought it was decent enough. I never saw the animated version, so I can’t make any comparisons to that one. I liked the girl that played Mulan. None of the other characters are particularly memorable. I thought it was a little slow to get to the action. There was a tiny bit of some “wire work”, but nothing like Crouching Tiger. I was surprised to read that it had the largest budget for a movie directed by a woman. I didn’t really see that. But, whatever. Again, it was decent enough. The kids (esp girls) will enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadzukes Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 My wife and I watched it last night and I have to say I was disappointed. It wasn't horrible, but there was nothing that really stood out. I don't fault Disney for asking for the $30 fee (movies are expensive to make). We split the cost between 3 of my family's households (what a bargain). Something about the effects/greenscreen bothered me (I was noticing them too much). Keys_Collector 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 China rating thus far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
media_junkie Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Bosco685 said: China rating thus far. Yeah, so is that 4.9 out of 5 or out of 10? The "Star Chart" next to the 4.9 only works if it is out of 10 stars, but it is only showing 5 stars total. Also the precentages below the star chart doesn't work out to 4.9 either? Am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
