director of the millennium

"In fact, the best way is to let Disney change the script and let them write the live-action version in the direction of the animated version."

"After all, the animated version has proven itself to be excellent. It grossed $98 million worldwide in 3, which is not easy."

"But it would be difficult for Disney to accept this suggestion."

Wu Yuan said with some emotion: "Unless I become the director of this film and ask Disney for the script control, but this is not realistic."

He had long thought about changing the circumstances of the movie "Mulan". At the beginning, his idea was very simple, that he could shoot it himself.

But as he came into contact with Hollywood, Wu Yuan realized that this idea was unrealistic.

A company as big as Disney is unlikely to allow directors to make decisions about their princess films. When Wu Yuan was filming "Pirates of the Caribbean", there was not much room for "suggestions" on the main story of the trilogy.

He can make some small suggestions, change some minor plots, add some interesting dialogues or plots, but he cannot change the main storyline. The film must be shot according to the script given by the screenwriter.

To be precise, the screenwriter does not write whatever he wants. In fact, the script written by the screenwriter also needs to pass Disney's review. The screenwriter can only be regarded as the second party and has to revise the script according to Disney's requirements before the script is finally created.

The ship was in trouble and turned around.

Even though Wu Yuan is an internationally renowned director, he can take his script to Disney to ask for money, people and investment, but he will never rely on his status as a famous director to interfere in Disney's IP, especially princess movies.

To a certain extent, princess films can be considered the lifeblood of Disney, and it is impossible to let outsiders make the decisions.

Of course, Wu Yuan can also make a "Mulan" movie himself. After all, Mulan is a legendary figure in Chinese history. The copyright of this character's story does not belong to Disney, so anyone can make a movie about it.

Several "Mulan" movies have been filmed in China, one of which starred Huang Xiaoming and Zhao Junqi together.

But without Disney's global market, global distribution channels, and Disney's reputation as a "princess film," what's the point of Wu Yuan making a movie like "Mulan"?
If it was for the domestic market, there was no need for Liu Yifei to shoot a "Mulan". There were plenty of scripts for her to choose from. Why did she cling to "Mulan"?
More importantly, even if Disney agreed to Wu Yuan's request and allowed him to freely write the script for the princess movie "Mulan" according to his own ideas, what would happen?
Make a version of "Mulan" that conforms to Chinese aesthetics and Chinese historical and cultural background?
no problem!
But can foreign movie fans understand it?

Would foreigners who know nothing about Chinese culture buy tickets for a movie like "Mulan" that is full of Chinese aesthetics and conforms to Chinese thinking?

Facts have proven countless times that, except for science fiction and romance, two themes that ignore cultural background, there is a huge difference in the film aesthetics between Chinese and Europeans and Americans.

Movies such as "Charlotte's Troubles", "Hello, Li Huanying", "Man Jiang Hong", "Speeding Life" and even "The Wandering Earth" are big sellers in China, but they do not perform well in Europe and the United States.

Movies that exploded at the North American box office, such as "Beauty and the Beast", "Crazy Rich Asians", "Dune", "Barbie", "Creed II", and "Thunder", also failed to perform well in China and suffered a collapse in reputation.

In fact, there are always only a few Hollywood commercial films that can dominate the Asian and European markets. In the final analysis, there are only a few series, such as "Marvel", "Transformers", "Fast and Furious" and so on.

In the eyes of Chinese audiences, "Mulan" is full of complaints, such as ugly makeup and a hodgepodge of historical backgrounds. However, in the eyes of European and American audiences, these complaints are very interesting.
Only Chinese people would consider that the Yongding Tulou could not have appeared in the era when Hua Mulan lived, and she was not from the south. When Europeans and Americans see the Yongding Tulou in the movie, they will only think it is so cool and Chinese. They have never seen such a novel building before, and it is very interesting.
These issues will not be the focus of foreign audiences.

This is just like when Chinese people watch "King Arthur". No Chinese people will consider whether the characters' clothing, background settings, and buildings in the movies and TV series "King Arthur" are consistent with real history. Everyone will only be curious about King Arthur's legendary experience, the Sword in the Lake and the Sword in the Stone, and marvel at the magic of Merlin.

Wu Yuan saw the problem of cultural differences clearly when Jackie Chan's "The Karate Kid" was not well received in China but grossed over $3.5 million in Europe and the United States.

Therefore, his own films insist on taking different routes. Domestic Chinese-language films mainly target the Asian market, while Hollywood's foreign-language films mainly target the European and American markets. He never expected his Chinese-language films to be popular in Europe and the United States, and the Hollywood films he made are almost all science fiction films.

Because science fiction films have the least cultural barriers, most of them are about space operas and do not involve any national culture or ideology, which makes them more likely to be favored by both Eastern and Western movie fans.

However, "Mulan" is not a science fiction film, and its positioning is not even a historical film. It is just a Disney princess film, and its main target markets are the European and American markets, followed by the Asian market.

"If the purpose is to expand overseas markets, mainly for the influence in Europe and the United States, this film can be accepted." Wu Yuan finally calmly suggested to Liu Yifei: "But some plots in the film that are obviously different from the background at that time can still be changed."

"If we want to take on this film, we must make a request to Disney that the crew needs to hire a professional Chinese history professor to select and build appropriate scenes based on the background of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and avoid obvious background errors."

"This is the most basic respect for Chinese culture and history. I believe Disney will accept this suggestion."

As an actress, Liu Yifei certainly cannot ask for changes to the main storyline of "Mulan", and she does not have the right to do so.

But apart from the main story, there is nothing wrong with being a little more strict about the historical background that appears in the movie.

When Wu Yuan was filming "Pirates of the Caribbean" and was shooting the Asian Pirate King, he also asked the crew to hire a professional professor of historical costume research to ensure that there would be no cultural omissions.

"If Disney doesn't even agree to this request, then it should think carefully about it."

Although the European and American story of "Mulan" about a princess defeating a witch and saving the world cannot be changed, those things in the original movie that do not conform to the historical background can still be adjusted.

Removing these incongruous scenes will also reduce the number of complaints from domestic audiences, although this may not be very meaningful.

No matter how "Mulan" is filmed, as long as the production team of this film is a Hollywood team, it is destined not to be accepted by Chinese audiences. You cannot expect a group of white people from Europe and the United States to shoot a Chinese historical story that will be recognized by the Chinese people. This is a fantasy.

But as long as the European and American markets can accept it, this movie will be beneficial to Liu Yifei. After all, she can use it to consolidate her international popularity and influence.

"I understand." After accepting Wu Yuan's advice, Liu Yifei nodded seriously and planned to have a good talk with Disney later. (End of this chapter)