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Ang Lee turns down live-action Mulan

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Disney may have made clear their intention to make their live-action take on ‘Mulan’ as close to an all-Asian production as they can, but the most prominent Asian filmmaker in Hollywood has turned down an offer to direct.

Two-time Oscar-winner Ang Lee was asked to take the helm on ‘Mulan’ but declined, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed.

Disney are also reportedly conducting “a global search to find a Chinese lead actress and love interest” for the film – and they can’t take too long about it, as they’ve got the movie penciled in for a November 2018 release.

On top of which, they’ve got some competition, as a rival ‘Mulan’ movie is also in the works at Sony.

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Taiwanese filmmaker Lee became the first non-Caucasian to win the Best Director Academy Award for ‘Brokeback Mountain’ in 2006, and was awarded his second for ‘Life of Pi’ in 2013.

No reason has been given for his decision to pass on ‘Mulan,’ although Lee does seem keen not to repeat himself as a director, and has already explored similar territory on his 2001 classic ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.’

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Co-directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook in 1998, ‘Mulan’ was one of Disney’s last big hits made in traditional animation, based on the Chinese legend of a warrior’s daughter (voiced by Ming-Na) who dresses as a boy and joins the army in her father’s place to help fight the invading Huns.

The story has since been told in live-action by Chinese director Jingle Ma, whose 2009 ‘Mulan’ (also known as ‘Mulan: Legendary Warrior’) cast actress Zhao Wei in the lead.

This new ‘Mulan’ follows in the wake of numerous live-action takes on Disney’s animated classics, including ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ ‘Cinderella,’ ‘The Jungle Book,’ and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ reworking ‘Maleficent.’

And there are plenty more to follow, with ‘Beauty and the Beast’ coming early 2017, and live-action takes on (deep breath now) ‘The Lion King,’ ‘Aladdin,’ ‘The Sword in the Stone,’ ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Tinkerbell,’ ‘Winnie the Pooh,’ ‘Cruella’ (a ‘101 Dalmatians’ prequel), ‘Pinocchio,’ ‘Dumbo,’ ‘Rose Red’ (a ‘Snow White’ reworking) and ‘Prince Charming’ (a ‘Cinderella’ spin-off) all in the pipeline. Phew…

Picture Credit: WENN, Disney