“Mulan” Movie In The Works

A live-action feature version of “Mulan,” the legend of a heroic Chinese girl-warrior that Disney popularized in their 1998 animated movie, will be among the first films made by Xinhua Media Entertainment in partnership with the state-run China Film Group.

“China Film and Xinhua came in with significant funding to make this a co-production when we met them at Cannes in May. They liked that we were taking a Hollywood approach to a classic Chinese story,” Christopher Brough said.

Brough said Disney’s animated version of the sixth century Chinese legend missed much of the nuance of the story of a girl who goes to war in her injured father’s stead.

“The Disney toon version takes a 4-foot-high viewpoint, from a child’s perspective. We will introduce Mulan at an older age and blend her story with a romance. Mulan is China’s Joan of Arc story,” Brough said.

“Mulan” movie is set to begin shooting in China in the spring.