In what the producers are calling “the perfect opportunity to bring to the screen the ideal synthesis of western and Chinese movie making skills with both a top actress and director, each of whom is globally recognized for their commercial and artistic success in equal measure,” Mulan will find her way back to the big screen as an independently financed American production directed by Jan de Bont, and starring Zhang Ziyi.
Jan de Bont is of course the director of Speed and Twister (and Director of Photography on gems like The Hunt for The Red October and Die Hard), and Ziyi is the star of successful Chinese exports like Hero and House of Flying Daggers. While Ziyi has kept working in Chinese and Korean films since her last hits, De Bont has been fairly quiet since 2003’s Tomb Raider, which he directed. While many of the producers have worked with Disney on recent projects, the massive studio is not backing the new film.
Mulan will begin filming in Shanghai soon and is expected to wrap in January.
Source | The Hollywood Reporter
5 comments
Maybe I missed it, but is Jan DeBont really "globally recognized for his commercial and artistic success in equal measure"? I always thought he was a hack that happened upon a couple of decent movies right out of the gate, and then spent most of the last decade in director's jail. Verification attempt #2.
That's the sales pitch to foreign investors. Why on earth does De Bont get a pass out of "director's jail" and filmmakers like Terry Gilliam and Martin Brest can't get a Nike commercial made.
Debont was going to make MEG. He's quality.
Live action Mulan: Already been done, last year, in a Chinese-produced multi-award winner, with Zhao Wei from "Red Cliff" and "Shaolin Soccer." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1308138/
I can't think the director of "The Haunting" and "Speed 2: Cruise Control" will bring much to the party.
De Bont directed the 2nd Tomb Raider movie, The Cradle of Life, not the 1st one. No big deal, as they're both terrible. As has been pretty much everything De Bont has directed outside of the original Speed. (Oh, alright, Twister was kind of fun, but still.) Incidentally, the existing live-action Mulan as dull as dishwater, so there may be some room for improvement. PS insert obligatory bitch about verification here.
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