Multi-billion dollar company Disney doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The company is not just hard at work developing more movies for the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’, but the company also seems to be hard-pressed in developing remakes and new entries for their other franchises as well. Spider-Man: Far From Home was just released over the holiday weekend, with the film not even being out an entire week, it has pulled in a whopping $185.1 million in the domestic box office (gamespot.com) since last Tuesday (July 2nd). We cannot also forget that Toy Story 4 was just released, as well as the fact that the live-action remake of The Lion King is only a few days away from release (July 18th). Following all of this success, Disney has released two additional live-action trailers for beloved Disney characters. One trailer being the live-action recreation of the late ’90s animated classic Mulan, and the other trailer is the newest installment for the Disney villain Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie. Be it that we only have the trailers to work off of, can fans decipher what it is that they should expect in these upcoming films?
Mulan (2020)
Following the Disney trend, the next upcoming remake is going to be Mulan, and it appears that there will be little deviation from the original 1998 classic. Reported from Uproxx it appears that the original story will remain intact. For those who don’t know, the original story of Mulan is how ‘Hua Mulan’ disguises herself as the male child of an honored warrior to go off and fight the invading Northerners, when called upon by the Chinese Emperor, to protect her ailing father and make him proud of her. While going through this journey, ‘Hua Jun’, is vigorously tested and must show her inner strength to pull through. Now, while the story may remain intact, fans might notice that within the trailer a fan-favorite character seems to be missing; a certain small dragon. ‘Mushu’, originally played by comedian Eddie Murphy, doesn’t appear in the trailer, alongside the fact that no musical scenes were witnessed either. The film’s director, Niki Caro, has stated that “no songs” were in the studio plans (Uproxx). The director plans to make this movie with a more serious tone compared to its original counterpart. Fans can expect the film in theaters by 2020 with a cast featuring Liu Yifei (as ‘Hua Mulan’), Donnie Yen, and Jason Scott Lee.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
This sequel comes five years after the first installments, Maleficent, released. Reprising her role, Angelina Jolie plays as the notorious Disney villain ‘Maleficent’; however, from the trailer, it seems that fans cannot decide whether or not she is truly the villain. If you recall, the first film featured the story of why ‘Maleficent’ became so cold-hearted to the world and curse the baby princess ‘Aurora’. In this sequel, we see that ‘Maleficent’ is living peacefully and is acting as a maternal figure to ‘Aurora’. Though, when ‘Aurora’ is asked to marry the handsome prince, ‘Maleficent’s past comes back and tries to sway ‘Aurora’ from falling into the lie that is love. Thus the trailer showcases ‘Maleficent’ attacking the kingdom, with all of her green magic, to try and stop this wedding. With a surprising twist at the end of the trailer that shows ‘Maleficent’ with creatures of her own horned, and black-winged fairy race. Seems there could be a powerful alliance with her own race. From this trailer, fans can expect a wonderful performance from Angelina Jolie as we continue to see why and how ‘Maleficent’ becomes one of the most iconic villains that Disney has to offer. This film is slated for an October 18th release, so not that far fans.
Between the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ and the Star Wars franchise, Disney just keeps delivering movies and shows for all the fans from the many intellectual properties that the company owns. We cannot wait for either of these movies to be released and hope other fans feel the same.