New Zealander Yosan An has joined Disney’s live-action movie Mulan as the main love interest Chen Hongui opposite Liu Yifei (also known as Crystal Liu) who is playing Hua Mulan, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed.
Chen Hongui is said to be a confident and ambitious recruit who joins Commander Tung’s unit. He becomes Mulan’s most important ally and eventual love interest. The character reportedly differs from Li Shang, the Chinese Army captain who was the main love interest in the animated version of the Disney film.
Chum Ehelepola has also joined the project and will be playing Ramtish in the film. He and Skatch (Utkarsh Ambudkar) play a duo in the feature. The actors join a star-studded cast that includes Jet Li (The Expendables 3), Gong Li (Miami Vice), Donnie Yen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story),, Xana Tang (Filthy Rich), the recently announced Uktarsh Ambudkar and Ron Yuan, and Liu Yifei (The Forbidden Kingdom) in the titular role.
Mulan, released by the studio in 1998, adapted the ancient Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, a female warrior who disguises herself as a man in order to take the place of her aging father in the military.
The new film is part of an ambitious slate of live-action adaptations of classic animated features at Disney. That slate includes The Lion King, The Jungle Book 2, Cruella, Maleficent 2, Dumbo, James and the Giant Peach, Winnie the Pooh, Pinocchio, Genies, Night on Bald Mountain, The Little Mermaid, and The Sword in the Stone. A live-action Tinker Bell movie starring Reese Witherspoon is also in parallel development to a live-action Peter Pan directed by Pete’s Dragon writer and director David Lowery.
Lauren Hynek, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver and Elizabeth Martin are providing the screenplay for Mulan, which has Chris Bender Jason Reed and Jake Weiner producing. Niki Caro (The Zookeeper’s Wife, McFarland, USA) will direct.
Mulan will hit theaters on March 27, 2020.
