Disney's Live-Action Mulan Budget Reportedly Exceeds $290 Million

CBR

Disney's Budget for Mulan Could Exceed $290 Million

By Sam Stone

Published May 8, 2018

A new report claims that the budget for Disney's live-action Mulan could exceed a staggering $290 million.

It's looking like Disney is sparing no expense to bring their live-action update of Mulan to the big screen.

As preproduction under director Niki Caro (The Zookeeper's Wife) kicks into full swing in New Zealand, with sets currently under construction, a report by PursueNews sets the initial production budget at $290 million. For comparison, the 2017 live action remake of Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson had a production budget of $160 million, while the 2015 live-action remake of Cinderella was budgeted at $95 million.

The massive budget makes that Caro is the female director with the largest film budget of all-time, and only the fourth female director to have a film budget over $100 million.

The report indicates much of this projected budget is attributed to set design and construction, all with the same set crew behind Thor: Ragnarok's impressive film environments on the sci-fi planet of Sakaar. Sources also reveal that the planned sets being constructed are massive and unprecedented in scale.

This is good news for the live-action update of the beloved 1998 animated film depicting a warrior disguised as a man in the feudal Chinese army driving back Mongol invaders. A live-action version of Mulan had been in development limbo for years, with the release being pushed back from its initial November 2018 earlier this year after principal photography was delayed until August.

Mulan, directed by Niki Caro and starring Liu Yifei in the title role, is scheduled to open on March 27, 2020.