‘Mulan’ Exclusive Window on Disney Plus Ends Next Week
Starting next week, you won’t need to have Disney Plus to purchase “Mulan” — but it will still cost $30.
Disney debuted the live-action remake of the animated original on Sept. 4, initially available only to subscribers of Disney Plus ($6.99/month).
As of next Tuesday, Oct. 6, “Mulan” will be available on multiple digital on-demand platforms, and they’re already taking pre-orders. Disney’s “Mulan” costs $29.99 (available in SD, HD or 4K UHD formats) and is being offered currently by digital retailers including Amazon Video, Google Play, and NBCUniversal’s Vudu and FandangoNow.
That means “Mulan” will have another two-month run as a purchase-only release before the title becomes available to all Disney Plus subscribers as of Dec. 4, 2020, for no extra charge.
Bonus content in the digital release of “Mulan” will include featurettes such as a look at actor Yifei Liu’s journey to becoming Mulan and Ming-Na Wen (who voiced the heroine in the original animated film) reflecting on her experience more than two decades ago with “Mulan” and her cameo in the remake. It also will come with deleted scenes and music videos including songs performed by Christina Aguilera (in English and Spanish) and Yifei Liu (in Mandarin and English).
Disney was forced to forgo a theatrical release in the U.S. and elsewhere for “Mulan” because of the COVID crisis. The media conglomerate hasn’t released any figures indicating how well “Mulan” has sold on Disney Plus. The unusual blend of premium VOD and subscription-streaming models was designed to help Disney recoup the movie’s estimated $200 million production budget as well as give an incremental lift to Disney Plus signups.
The film, directed by Niki Caro, is a live-action reimagining of Disney’s 1998 animated feature (which is streaming on Disney Plus along with “Mulan II,” released in 2005 in the U.S.). Like the original, the new “Mulan” follows a young warrior in China who disguises herself as a man to spare her elderly father from having to serve in the military.
The cast of “Mulan” cast includes Yifei Liu as Mulan; Donnie Yen as Commander Tung, Tzi Ma as Zhou, Jason Scott Lee as Böri Khan, Yoson An as Honghui, and Ron Yuan as Sergeant Qiang — featuring Gong Li as Xianniang and Jet Li as the Emperor. The screenplay is by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, based on the spec script by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin and inspired by the narrative poem “The Ballad of Mulan.” Producers are Chris Bender, Jake Weiner and Jason Reed, with Bill Kong, Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Coddington and Mario Iscovich serving as executive producers.
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