Marvel fans everywhere rejoiced in the streets yesterday when it was announced AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR was bumped up one week to April 27, but that wasn’t the only major date shift Disney unveiled. This year the studio was supposed to release their highly-anticipated live-action version of MULAN, but now the movie has been pushed all the way back to March 27, 2020.
The movie previously held a slot on November 2, 2018, but even Disney knew they were not going to make that window. The film from Niki Caro cast actress Liu Yifei (also known as Crystal Liu) in the lead role, which came after over a year of auditioning and seeing over 1,000 actresses. Given the size and scope of the movie, the studio has known for some time the release date was going to be pushed back.
Though next year could’ve been doable, 2019 already sees the release of remakes for DUMBO (March 29), ALADDIN (May 24) and THE LION KING (July 19). Three is certainly a crowd, and even if it did come out in November of that year, it would have to compete with FROZEN 2 only a few weeks later. As we all have come to learn, the only thing that can defeat a Disney at the box office is another Disney.
Disney also announced a slew of release dates for 25 untitled projects through February 2023, including 16 live-action movies, 6 Marvel films and three animated movies. As well, the Anna Kendrick Christmas comedy, NICOLE, has been removed from the calendar and will be heading for Disney’s streaming service, which plans to launch in 2019.
This is the smartest move the studio could make, because as they knew, there was no way in hell they were making that original date for MULAN. The movie needs all the time it can get to be made, as this one has more anticipation behind it than others like DUMBO and ALADDIN. MULAN should do fine in March, a month when BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, CINDERELLA came out, and those two did okay.
MULAN is set for March 27, 2020.