Niki Caro, director for Mulan and currently promoting her film The Zookeeper’s Wife, was asked about the upcoming Mulan live action film.
One of the things that has emerged is that this will not be a musical. Many on the internet are a little saddened that they won’t hear the iconic I’ll Make a Man Out of You. But, what she did mention was wanting to make it a “girly martial arts” film. She went on to say she doesn’t want the word “girly” to be derisive, but rather have it describe the way the movie will go.
She is also excited about the budget she’s given and the locations she can shoot at. It sounds like at least one of the locations will be actually in China. In addition to all this, Caro is going to be taking martial arts classes with her daughter. It will enable her to get the right perspective for the film.
An exact quote from a recent interview with some of the information is:
“I haven’t started yet so I can’t give you any real detail. But the budget and the location and the story is offering such scope to me for [an] incredible, muscular piece of girly martial arts extravaganza in China. And I can’t wait.”
In all it sounds like this will be different from the original animated film, yet still in the same heart. The martial arts motif will probably draw action fans, and there seems to be some things that will still appeal to families. The movie is still in early stages of development, so this all could change a bit. It may be disheartening to hear that the great songs from the animated movie won’t be heard. But, this does sound like an exciting film that will go well in the rest of the Disney live action film library.
We’ll keep giving details as they appear online.
