After more than a year of rumors that the new live-action Mulan might be white-washed, Disney has cast a totally fitting actress for the movie's lead role. Variety reported Wednesday that Chinese actress Liu Yifei will play Mulan in the upcoming film.
As of now, the movie will likely be released in 2019, the outlet notes, though nothing is confirmed.
It sounds like Disney really took the whitewashing fears to heart for this movie, though. Variety reports that the studio auditioned thousands of ethnically Chinese actresses before choosing Liu for the role. The actress has appeared in various Chinese movies and TV shows. But as Variety notes, she's still a relative newcomer, at least to American audiences.
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There's still one major way the new Mulan will differ from the 1998 cartoon version, though: It won't feature any songs. That might be a disappointment to fans of the original, but think of it this way — do we really need another generation of people who won't stop singing "I'll Make a Man Out of You?"
Besides, it sounds like there will be enough action in the movie that we won't even miss the original songs. Niki Caro, the movie's director, told Moviefone earlier this year that the new Mulan will be "a big, girly martial arts epic."
"It will be extremely muscular and thrilling and entertaining and moving," Caro told the outlet. We're totally on board, especially now that we know a Chinese actress has been cast in the lead role. Hopefully, the movie won't go the way of the Aladdin live-action remake and needlessly add a new white character.
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