In an anonymous open letter over at the Angry Asian Man blog, an Asian-American entertainment industry pro who has read the 2015 spec script called The Legend of Mulan by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin that Disney purchased for their live-action Mulan (which is set for release in November of 2018), revealed that this version of the film has very little to do with Mulan at all. Instead, it has to do with a white savior who only helps the Chinese Imperial Army because he thinks Mulan is purdy.
The anonymous pro writes, “The man is a 30-something European trader who initially cares only for the pleasure of women and money. The only reason why he and his entourage decide to help the Chinese Imperial Army is because he sets eyes on Mulan. That’s right. Our white savior has come to the aid of Ancient China due to a classic case of Yellow Fever. In this script written by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin, more than half of its pages are dedicated to this merchant who develops a mutual attraction with Mulan and fights to protect her in the ensuing battles. To top it all off, this man gets the honor of defeating the primary enemy of China, not Mulan. Way to steal a girl’s thunder.”
I mean this scipt will most likely not be used but the fact that it exists in the first place speaks volumes. It does not make me very hopeful for this adaptation to know they thought this was a good idea.
I hope, that considering how tightly run Disney is nowadays and how much money is involved in a film like this, that they'd have the sense to discard this script and make it closer to the original story with an all-Asian cast.
