"Mulan" Remake Fizzles in Anticipated Chinese Opening Weekend
what made the surefire hit bomb in the chinese box office?
By: Keaton Marcus
Disney released their live-action update on the 1998 animated classic Mulan, one of their many remakes to the studio’s Golden Age. The movie was received reasonably well by critics, not common for most reboots, scoring a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes and with us. However, it didn’t rank as high with the fans, or in the Chinese box office, where it was expected to be a huge hit.
All this controversy started when the film’s star, Yifei Liu, allegedly supporting Hong Kong police brutality, and it recently became more intense, with reports explaining that the movie’s battle sequence was shot in a location where Muslims are under severe repression. That received global backlash, and another nit-pick specifically the Chinese had was the fact that all characters speak English, which made the film feel a bit odd, especially since this was supposed to be a more grounded remake.
“The movie is a waste of Mulan’s innocent name; it really is heartbreaking,” Qiu Tian, 30, a psychology teacher at a Beijing university who recently saw the movie, said in an interview. “The director completely misunderstood Mulan and stubbornly twisted her character into this role as an extreme feminist and hero.” This esteemed man clearly knows his stuff about the legend, and his criticism hits hard. Although I still enjoyed the movie quite a lot, I will admit that there were some serious flaws in both the film, production locations and the overall marketing.
From when it received its PG-13 MPAA rating, to when we saw the trailer, audiences were expecting a more grounded, realistic take on the legend with some real battle sequences. What really drove us away from that while watching is the fact that there’s actual magic involved, both in the title character, who’s said to have powerful Chi in her, making the once normal woman a total Jedi. Otherwise, there’s a witch of sorts, played by Gong Li, who can shape shift into a falcon…She’s one of the main villains. True, the movie did get some stuff right, like not including actual tunes during the experience, no talking dragon played by Eddie Murphy, or a cricket for good luck, but it’s very half-assed in that respect.
In terms of the actual movie, disregarding its realism attempts, makes it the best Disney remake of all-time. That isn’t a high bar to hit, to be frank, but it’s still a fairly good film. First of all, Yifei Liu, no matter what type of person she is, is a complete badass, especially in the action sequences, including the rest of the cast. Secondly, the cinematography and the battles are absolutely stunning visually, complete with some gorgeous set pieces and beautiful filming locations. Thirdly, it’s kind of a blessing not to have any of the tunes in the original, truly separating itself from it. This makes Mulan 2020 pole-vault over other remakes like The Lion King, a shot-for-shot, soulless attempt with updated visual effects.
Not only did audiences all over the world pan the film, pummeling Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score to a divided 51%, but China wasn’t warm to it either in the box office. Expected to have very good sales in the country, Mulan went into its foreign weekend with high hopes. Despite Disney claiming they’re very “pleased” with the viewership on Disney+ Premier Access (you had to pay 30 bucks), it had tepid sales in the country.
With an opening of only 23 million, it was enough to top the Chinese box office (without any major competition), but far from what executives were predicting. Other movies that recently debuted there fared far better, including Tenet, which raked a solid 29.6 million, and especially China’s war epic The Eight Hundred, which opened to the tune of 75.7 million, bringing its total to 391 million. Now those, ladies and gentlemen, are some strong numbers. So why did Mulan fizzle in a marketplace where it should flourish?
I’ve already explained it, to be honest. It was a conjunction of the mixed audience reception, global backlash over many controversial instances, and just an overall marketing failure. For the most part, it wasn’t even due to the quality of the thing, more to the expectations of it all. In my opinion, this film is a step in the right direction for a new wave that hasn’t fully been realized, but should be on the horizon. A line-up of more serious, different remakes…Or even just films. Although we’re living in a post-creativity era, so don’t expect too much.
