While Disney’s recent attempts to bring some of their beloved animated classics to life have been met with mixed reviews, the recent box office success of Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella has encouraged the company to continue the trend. The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Monday that Disney will soon be giving Mulan the live-action treatment, and that Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek have been brought on as the film’s writers.
While critics and audiences alike have expressed their preference for the animated versions of Disney’s classic films, their live-action counterparts have all done well in the box office thus far. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland earned $1.02 billion in 2010, Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent grossed $758.4 million worldwide last year, and Branagh’s Cinderella has thus far amassed over $330 million worldwide in the three weeks since its release. These financial triumphs encouraged Disney to announce its intent to release live-action adaptations of Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book and Dumbo, and now Mulan reportedly joins the list.
Disney’s animated version of Mulan followed a young woman who disguises herself as a man so she can go to war in her father’s place, and eventually becomes one of China’s greatest heroines. The film was met with widespread critical acclaim upon its release in 1998. It earned just under $305 million in the box office, and a number of Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.
Disney has not yet officially confirmed the film or its intended release date, but their live-action Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, is scheduled for release on Mar. 17, 2017. Another Alice in Wonderland and the new The Jungle Book are planned for release sometime in 2016.