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THR"Disney's Bold $200M Gamble on 'Mulan' " changes/coronavirus/ Hong Kong protest etc

Ehoavash

Ehoavash

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Oct 28, 2017
7,238
www.hollywoodreporter.com

Inside Disney’s Bold $200M Gamble on ‘Mulan’: “The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher”

'Mulan' — with its beloved source material, cultural sensitivities and politically controversial star — was always going to be high-stakes gamble, and that was before the coronavirus shut down one of its most vital markets.
www.hollywoodreporter.com www.hollywoodreporter.com

Interesting article about the controversies surrounding this movie's release not to mention the changes it made to appeal the Chinese audience ( ie no mushu, no songs ) which probably will alienate western audience, also movie won't be releasing in Chinese theaters anytime soon cause of the coronavirus, also talks about the lead actress's view on her Hong Kong comment which she tries to avoid

It has Disney's biggest budget ever for a live action remake, to miss out China for a movie like this is going to be interesting/ definitely a big blow to their studio

In a film carefully designed to appeal to Western and Chinese audiences alike. But now there's a question of when Mulan will be released in China. With the coronavirus shutting down all 70,000 of the country's theaters since Jan. 24, it's unclear — and more unlikely every day — that multiplexes will reopen in time for its planned release. (Several high-profile U.S. films, including Universal's Dolittle and 1917 and Searchlight's Jojo Rabbit, saw their February releases scrapped.) "It certainly has worldwide and global appeal, but there's no denying that this is a very important film for the Chinese market," says Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "It's a huge blow for Disney if it doesn't release in China." Disney president of production Sean Bailey says he's "looking at it day by day."
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Disney tested the film thoroughly with Chinese audiences, including its own local executives. In an early version, Mulan kissed love interest Chen Honghui (Yoson An) on a bridge when they were about to part. "It was very beautiful, but the China office went, 'No, you can't, that doesn't feel right to the Chinese people,' " says Caro. "So we took it out."
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I think it's obviously a very complicated situation and I'm not an expert," she says now, cautious in the extreme. "I just really hope this gets resolved soon." When pressed, Liu, whose answer seemed rehearsed, declines to say much more, simply repeating, "I think it's just a very sensitive situation." (Bailey also deflects when asked: "Yifei's politics are her own, and we are just focused on the movie and her performance.")
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DFG

DFG

Self requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,591
Does China not allow songs? I'm not familiar behind the reasoning.
 
Teenage Fansub

Teenage Fansub

Member
May 24, 2019
22,194
Movies are sent to theaters over the internet these days, so why can't it go to China? Or are people just dissuaded from gathering in public?
 
spookyduzt

spookyduzt

Drive-In Mutant
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
10,851
There's only one thing that can save this movie.

giphy.gif
 
kmfdmpig

kmfdmpig

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
19,367
I'm not going to see a movie with a CCP bootlicker who shat on HK protesters. Sorry, Disney. Do better with your hiring in the future.
 
Razgriz-Specter

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,498
Even without the other stuff, they changed Mulan from a badass soldier into generic kung-fu wire shit.
then the other changes
Mulan had literally the best Disney songs and they cut them.
Thats not even getting in to the actress shit

Literally my favorite classic animated Disney movie but the remake looks horrendous(even as someone that really liked Aladdin and such)

I hate that its the Coronavirus doing it because otherwise seeing it likely disappoint after going 100% for the Chinese audience would be satisfying.
 
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Ehoavash

Ehoavash

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,238
Venatio said:
I'm surprised they haven't just delayed it to fall.
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Even if it did and Chinese theaters reopened in the fall, I think the general public will probably be afraid of public gatherings like movie theaters for a while now in China/ South Korea/ and some other places where the virus is moving faster due how much fear/ damage this virus has done to people views

The worldwide Box office numbers are definitely gonna be low for every movie this year
 
Sean

Sean

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,591
Longview
I wonder how if any media companies are reevaluating bending over backwards for the shitty Chinese government to get their films in after this. Theaters over there are going to be backlogged for a long ass time to get through this and a ton of stuff will likely not outright play anymore at all. Even Disney can't just throw money at this problem.

Maaaaaaybe... this movie was a bad idea.
 
Curler

Curler

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,604
Disney tested the film thoroughly with Chinese audiences, including its own local executives. In an early version, Mulan kissed love interest Chen Honghui (Yoson An) on a bridge when they were about to part. "It was very beautiful, but the China office went, 'No, you can't, that doesn't feel right to the Chinese people,' " says Caro. "So we took it out."
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This I don't get. I know China opposes gay interactions, but this one doesn't make sense.
 
MadLaughter

MadLaughter

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
13,096
The actress' comments are 20% of the reason I won't see it, the songs are the other 80%. I know the actress thing should be like 90 tho
 
Tyaren

Tyaren

Character Artist
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
24,764
El Bombastico said:
Musicals are rarely popular outside the language they are sung in, for obvious reasons.*

*Opera being the exception, of course.
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What? This couldn't be more false, lol. Disney animated musicals are huge hits across the globe. Life action musicals like Pitch Perfect, La La Land, The Greatest Showman etc. are also huge hits.
 
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Ehoavash

Ehoavash

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,238
Agar25 said:
Is it in bomba territory? Would be a shame, Asian actors are woefully underrepresented
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with Chinese theaters closed til who knows when + how much of a departure it is from the cartoon movie cause the movie wanted that Chinese audience ...definitely a bomba
 
Kaseoki

Kaseoki

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,291
Curler said:
This I don't get. I know China opposes gay interactions, but this one doesn't make sense.
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Still a very conservative country. Especially when you are dealing with a much loved legend, things such as love should be eluded at, not shown outright through kissing.

Compare to how Japanese will rarely say "I love you". In the FFX final cutscene, Yuna says "Thank you" (Arigatou) to convey her love. Love in asian media is all about subtleness.
 

Deleted member 8901

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
2,522
Yeah I'm Chinese and I won't even go see this shit. No interest in supporting anyone who acts as a CCP mouthpiece.
 
Cookie

Cookie

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,258
Even without the current situation this movie was always destined to bomb. It's a movie for nobody that will be enjoyed by nobody. Looks like such a paint by numbers BS movie.
 

Deleted member 2761

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,620
Pein said:
good.

Mushu's revenge you dicks.
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"Mushu was very popular in the U.S., but the Chinese hated it," says Rosen. "This kind of miniature dragon trivialized their culture."

As a Chinese-American, I hated it too. Disney did a lot of things wrong with the movie, and feel free to litigate those, but removing Mushu was an act of cultural respect, so live with it.
 
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