“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.

Columbia Buys Linda Woolverton Spec

Scribe Linda Woolverton, known for her work on animated fare like “The Lion King,” has sold an untitled pitch to Sony’s Columbia, with Joe Roth and Team Todd on board to produce.The studio is keeping the story line under wraps, but it is known to be a live-action project. Elizabeth Cantillon and Devon Franklin are overseeing for the studio.

This is the second project Woolverton has sold with Roth and Team Todd’s Suzanne and Jennifer Todd producing. Disney last year picked up her prestrike pitch for a revisionist sequel to “Alice in Wonderland.” Tim Burton is in preproduction and set to direct the digital 3-D movie.

Woolverton’s credits include Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” and “Mulan,” as well Universal’s “Curious George.” She is repped by CAA.