MULAN live-action remake from Disney puts New Zealand native at the helm.
Disney’s live-action version of Mulan has found its director, and the person at the helm is helping the studio set some big new entertainment standards.
Niki Caro, who previously directed Whale Rider and MacFarland, USA has signed on to helm remake of the popular tale. In an industry that’s short on female directors in general, Caro is only the second woman the studio has ever entrusted with a movie budgeted over $100 million. The first was Ava Duvernay for A Wrinkle In Time, which is currently in post-production.
According to THR, Disney originally hoped to find an Asian director for the film and met with Ang Lee and and Rogue One actor Jiang Wen (a prominent director in China), but ultimately neither were available for the project. However, the film just brought on major Hong Kong-based executive producer Bill Kong, who worked on some of China’s biggest hits in recent years and major Chinese movies that crossed over to American screens like House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The live-action Mulan film has already set its release date as November 2, 2018.
