MOVIES

Disney Shares First Look at Live-Action 'Mulan'

8/14/2018 by Aaron Couch

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Liu Yifei arrives at the red carpet of the 7th Beijing International Film Festival on April 16, 2017 in Beijing, China.

Liu Yifei is starring as the titular heroine.

Disney's Mulan has begun production, and has unveiled the first look at star Liu Yifei in the titular role. The actress (also known as Crystal Liu), is playing the heroine, who disguises herself as a man in order to spare her elderly father from having to join the military. Casting directors saw nearly 1,000 candidates for the role across five continents before finding the film's lead.

Also among the cast for Mulan are Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Ron Yuan, Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao, Cheng Pei-Pei, Nelson Lee, Chum Ehelepola, Gong Li and Jet Li. Mulan will film in New Zealand and China.

The Zookeeper’s Wife filmmaker Niki Caro is directing Mulan for a March 27, 2020 release date. The film has a screenplay from Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver and Elizabeth Martin & Lauren Hynek. Mulan is based on Disney's 1998 animated Mulan, which earned $304.3 million globally and earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. The original Mulan voice starred Ming-Na Wen as the lead, alongside Eddie Murphy and BD Wong.

Producers on Disney's remake include Jason T. Reed, Chris Bender and Jake Weiner. Executive producers are Barrie M. Osborne, Bill Kong and Tim Coddington.

This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.