Last year, Disney conducted an exhaustive search for a star for its forthcoming live-action version of Mulan. It eventually settled on Chinese actress Liu Yifei, and now, the first images of her in character have been released.
According to Variety, production began on Monday, and will take place in China and New Zealand. Jet Li will be there!:
Jet Li will play the emperor of China, Gong Li will portray a powerful witch, and Donnie Yen will be Mulan’s mentor, Commander Tung. Yoson An will play Chen Honghui, a confident and ambitious recruit who becomes Mulan’s ally and eventual love interest. The cast also includes Utkarsh Ambudkar, Ron Yuan, Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao, Cheng Pei-Pei, Nelson Lee, and Chum Ehelepola.
Casting directors reportedly trekked across five continents searching for an actor with both English and martial arts skills to fill the titular role. Yifei, known in China as the “Fairy Sister,” has appeared primarily in Chinese productions, but has done some American-Chinese movies like 2014’s Outcast and The Forbidden Kingdom.
The film is due out March 27, 2020. So that you may truly feel old, I’ll remind you that the original animated version came out in 1998.
