Mandarin-Dubbed Version Of Mulan To Be Released On Sept 18
Maybe Jet Li’s performance will be less stiff this time. Maybe.
A Mandarin-dubbed version of Disney’s Mulan will be released in select cinemas on Friday (Sept 18).
Since its Sept 4 bow in Singapore, Mulan — a US$200 million (S$273 mil), English-language adaptation of the narrative poem Ballad of Mulan, and remake of a 1998 animated feature — has made over S$2 million at the box-office. It was No.1 for two consecutive weeks.
Original Mulan stars Liu Yifei (Mulan), Jet Li (The Emperor), Gong Li (Xianniang) and Zhang Pei Pei (Matchmaker) will voice their respective characters in Mandarin. The English version will continue to be shown here. Disney is also releasing Mulan in IMAX format (English version only), starting this Thursday.
The Mandarin-dubbed version will be screened at the following locations:
Cathay Cineplexes — AMK Hub, Cineleisure, JEM
Filmgarde — Bugis+
Golden Village — Suntec City, Tiong Bahru, Bishan
Shaw Theatres — Seletar, PLQ, Waterway Point
WE Cinemas
Festival Arts Theatre
Elsewhere, Mulan took in a lacklustre US$23.2 million in its opening weekend in China, the world’s second-largest movie market after the US. The Niki Caro-helmed epic has received mixed to negative reviews from critics and moviegoers.
Mulan has been mired in controversy since last year when Liu, a Chinese-American, declared her support for the Hongkong police for cracking down on pro-democracy protesters, prompting a #BoycottMulan movement on social media.
The PR woes worsened when viewers noticed in the end credits that Disney thanked government bodies in Xinjiang — including the public security bureau in Turpan, a city where one million of the country’s ethnic Muslim Uighurs minority are detained in re-education camps.
Amid the political firestorm, China banned media coverage of Mulan, a move some say is an attempt to mitigate the growing backlash overseas over the movie’s connection to Xinjiang.
Bulk of Mulan was filmed in New Zealand, with about 20 other locations — including Xinjiang — in China added to capture the scenery of the country. It’s said that only a minute of the Xinjiang footage made it to the final cut of Mulan.
In the US and Europe, Mulan is available on Disney+ as a premium VOD offering, with subscribers paying an extra of US$30 to watch it.
Photo: Disney
For more info on the sessions of the Mandarin-dubbed Mulan, click here.