Disney chose the emerging female director Niki Caro for its live-action adaptation of "Mulan," making her the second woman in Disney to handle a movie with a budget of over $100 million, following Ava DuVernay's "A Wrinkle in Time."
Caro and Her Works
New Zealander Caro had previously worked with Disney in "McFarland, USA." a 2015 cross-country drama. According to The Hollywood Reporter, for this work, she had lived for almost a year in immersion at central California to engage herself with the Mexican-American community there.
Caro's other directorial credits include the 2002 family drama "Whale Rider" and the upcoming "The Zookeeper's Wife."
Team Mulan
In "Mulan," Caro will be working with Chinese cultural consultants and Disney's own China-based team to make certain that the specifics will be authentic.
Also Joining the team is Bill Kong as the executive producer. Among the films produced by the Hong Kong-based bigtime producer include "Hero", "House of Flying Daggers", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Monster Hunt", "Wolf Totem" and "Journey to the West".
The original "Mulan," which was released in 1998, had a worldwide gross of $304 million, BBC News reported. It tells the story of a Chinese girl who disguised herself as her father to replace his place when he was called to join the army.
The pressure on the "Mulan" remake is high, with fans following how the team is handling the adaptation and who will they cast. Disney stated that most will be Chinese stars and that the shooting will be in China.
Hollywood and Woman Directors
Disney announced in September 2016 that "Mulan" would be the latest film to get a live-action remake, and according to china.org, the company, trying to find Chinese directors for it, reached out to Jiang Wen and Ang Lee. The latter declined the offer because he was already working on something else--"Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk"--but hoped another Chinese director could work on "Mulan".
The number of female directors in Hollywood is not that much, and a study revealed that this is still declining.
A new report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, as cited by Variety, told that among the directors of the 250 highest-grossing domestic films in 2016 only 7 percent were women.
But 2017 has a promising diversity, reminding the audience of women's talents in the film industry through high-profile releases such as Trish Sie's "Pitch Perfect 3," Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman," and Sofia Coppola's "The Beguiled," according to Variety.