Mulan has been on Disney‘s slate of upcoming live-action remakes for a bit, but we got some small production updates on the film at the D23 Expo, including a shifted release date.
The remake was originally set to be released on Nov. 2, 2018. However, that date has been pushed back and is now set for some time in 2019.
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While that move could worry some fans, executives on stage at the convention confirmed they “are indeed in pre-production on a live-action Mulan.” It was also reassured that Zookeeper’s Wife director Nikki Cairo is still leading the production.
While cast announcements were confirmed for Aladdin and Dumbo, no casting announcements were made for Mulan.
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One actress that has thrown her name in for involvement is Ming-Na Wen, the voice of Mulan in the original animated film.
Wen, who now appears in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., says she’s too old to star, but she would like a role of some sort in the film.
“I would love to have a part in it in some way,” she previously said. “I know the fans really want it and love it. And some of them even go, ‘Well, why don’t you just play Mulan?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah if it’s Mulan: The Later Years.”
She also stressed one of the most important aspects of casting a live-action Mulan: the heritage.
“(Mulan)’s Chinese in her heritage,” Wen said. “Even though we’re Pan-Asian, it is specifically a Chinese folklore and I really think that someone with that ethnic background [would] really just add more to the story.”
Disney Reveals All Its Movies Through 2019
In addition to Mulan, Disney has unveiled its slate of films through 2019 at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.
The slate features the next films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Star Wars franchise and numerous Pixar and Disney favorites.
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Later this year, fans will be getting Thor: Ragnarok, Pixar’s Coco and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
In 2018, Disney is planning nine releases: Black Panther, the Star Wars Han Solo film, A Wrinkle in Time, Wreck-It Ralph 2, The Incredibles 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms and Mary Poppins Returns.
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Disney will match that in 2019 with nine more films: Captain Marvel, Dumbo, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, an Avengers film, Frozen 2, Mulan, Star Wars: Episode IX and another untitled animated feature.
More details on these films are expected throughout the D23 Expo.
Will Smith Confirmed To Play Genie In Disney’s ‘Aladdin’
Disney just dropped a bombshell for one of their live-action remakes of an animated classic, as production details begin to release for Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of Aladdin.
Sean Bailey announced at D23 that Will Smith is confirmed to play Genie in the live-action movie, joined by Mena Massoud as Aladdin and Naomi Scott as Jasmine.
The news comes after reports that Disney and Ritchie were having trouble finding actors to cast in the now iconic roles, but it seems like those troubles have subsided.
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Smith was first reported by THR last week, but has now been confirmed. He will be playing the role made famous by the late Robin Williams, who voiced the Genie in Aladdin and the sequel Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
Scott recently starred in the Power Rangers movie, while Massoud will star in the Jack Ryan television show.
Bailey said Ritchie’s film will contain elements from the 1992 animated classic as well as the original source of inspiration, Arabian Nights, AKA One Thousand And One Nights.
‘Mary Poppins Returns’ Footage Debuts At D23
Disney unveiled a slew of details concerning Mary Poppins Returns at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, on Saturday.
Sean Bailey, Head of Production from Disney’s live action studio, started off the the presentation by complimenting the music of Disney films and goes on to highlight the Sherman Brothers, the musicians behind the original Mary Poppins.
Rob Marshall directs Mary Poppins with John DeLucas and Marc Platt producing, with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman composing the music.
“Two dozen years beyond the events of the original films,” he said. “As we know it here in the States, the Great Depressions.”
The heartless Bank Manager, Mr. Wilkins played by Colin Firth, wreaks havoc on their life. “Dame Andrews is a very, very tough act to follow but I think we can agree that, in Emily Blunt, we have found the perfect actress to fill those shoes.”
Bailey runs through images of the cast and crew, including Lin Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury, and Dick van Dyke. Emily BLunt and director Rob Marshall take the stage. Marshall is excited to make the film about Mary Poppins as others as older characters.
“We both and the entire company and the creative time feel very protective of the original film because we love it so much,” Marshall said. “That’s that and will always be that. This is living in that world with a foot in the past and a foot in the future and telling that story.”
“I watched about 15 minutes of the original and then just stopped watching it,” Blunt said. “I had to do my version of her. I think we were very loyal to the books.” She says they went in a direction of the books which see Poppins as a sarcastic, often rude yet fun character.
“It’s a dream cast,” Marshall said. “Every person we approached said yes immediately.” He goes on to call this film “a gift to the world” while it needs something of the sort before telling a story about Dick van Dyke coming on set. “He said, ‘It feels exactly the same. The same feeling of joy in making the film.’ And that was the highest compliment.”
“Poppins is a big ole musical,” Blunt said.
Marshall points out that the new film uses set items and props from the original film. He was ecstatic to point out they got the original table with the phone on it.
Marshal says the composers “bring a new joyous humor to it,” calling their work “clever” and “smart,” before introducing a bit of new footage, calling it “a taste of what’s to come,” teasing a “wonderful surprise.” The Disney orchestra and Mark Shaiman score the trailer as it plays.
Footage of the iconic house starts. Various characters flash by. A kite is taken from the ground and into the wind before a boy plays with it and the screen reads, “A new story to tell.” A storm catches the kite until the clouds clear and Mary Poppins is hanging from it. Later, she enters the house. The music becomes more upbeat. A captain fires a cannon. Poppins pulls her umbrella from a sink’s drain. More extravagant shots of characters amd dance numbers. Men dance on lamp posts, swing form ladders. The cast are introduced with names, right up to Dick van Dyke dancing on a table. Poppins slides up a railing to end the trailer.
Cast Confirmed for Tim Burton’s ‘Reimagining’ of ‘Dumbo,’ Production Started
It’s been announced that filming for Disney‘s live-action Dumbo film, directed by Tim Burton, is underway, a cast has been revealed, and a premiere date has been set.
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The film from the Alice in Wonderland director will land in theaters on March 29, 2019.
Disney tweeted out the details, writing, “Production is underway for the live-action reimagining of Disney’s Dumbo, directed by Tim Burton. In theaters March 29, 2019.”
Additionally, we also now know that the cast of the film will include Colin Farrell, Danny Devito, Eva Green, Michael Keaton, Nico Parker, and Finley Hobbins.
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Disney’s official synopsis of the film is as follows:
“Holt Farrier (Farrell) is a former circus star who finds his life turned upside down when he returns from the war. Circus owner Max Medici (DeVito) enlists Holt to care for a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughingstock in an already struggling circus. But when Holt’s children (Parker and Hobbins) discover that Dumbo can fly, persuasive entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere (Keaton) and an aerial artist named Colette Marchant (Green) swoop in to make the peculiar pachyderm a star.”
This live action remake of Disney’s 1941 classic joins other impending new live-action adaptations such as Aladdin and The Lion King.
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Watch ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ Official Trailer
The time has finally arrived!
Disney’s film adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time has released its first trailer.
The film, directed by Ava DuVernay, has a star-studded cast, featuring, Chris Pine as Mr. Murry, Storm Reid as Meg, Levi Miller as Calvin, Reese Witherspoon as Mrs. Whatsit, Mindy Kaling as Mrs. Who, and Oprah Winfrey as Mrs. Which.
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A Wrinkle in Time is based on Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 novel of the same name.
The upcoming fantasy is about an ordinary teenager named Meg who is whisked away on a cosmic adventure to find her missing science teacher, played by Pine. She receives guidance from three chimerical celestial beings who help her “wrinkle” time and space.
The film opens in theaters on March 9, 2018.
