When Disney announced it was making a live-action version of Mulan, we were thrilled—and a bit skeptical. In today's tumultuous culture, we need to see more powerful films about women and minorities, but many people were understandably afraid that Disney would whitewash Mulan. After all, Hollywood has a history of casting white actors to play Asian or half-Asian characters. So when an anonymous writer, who goes by the name Angry Asian Man, published a piece that claimed the spec script for Mulan featured a white male lead, we were disappointed and hoped it wasn't true.
Thankfully, it's not. Not only does Mulan star Liu Yifei, a Chinese actor, it was directed by a woman: Niki Caro. The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news in 2017 that Disney chose Caro to spearhead the film after considering several others, including Asian directors Ang Lee and Jiang Wen. Of course, it would've been even better if Disney had hired an Asian female to direct the project, but the fact that Hong Kong–based Bill Kong is the executive producer of Mulan helped assure the casting was done correctly.
Caro's past work indicated that Mulan would be in good hands. Her 2005 film, North Country, earned two Oscar nominations, and Jessica Chastain, the star of Caro's The Zookeeper's Wife, recently lauded the director for keeping the vibe on set gender inclusive. Caro is the second woman in history to direct a film with a budget of more than $100 million. (The first was Ava DuVernay, for A Wrinkle in Time.)
Mulan received rave reviews upon its March 2020 premiere, but the coronavirus pushed the wide-release date back several months. It will now premiere on Disney+ for a rental price of $29.99.
