Why the Hollywood remake of Mulan missed its mark in China

Disney thought it would make a billion dollars in China for its remake of the animated movie Mulan. Instead the Chinese are voting with their feet and avoiding it like a coughing stallholder at a Wuhan wet market, Duncan Lay writes.

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Disney thought its live action remake Mulan would make a billion dollars in China. Instead, the Chinese are avoiding it like a coughing stallholder at a Wuhan wet market.

The latest figures in Variety magazine show that Mulan has made a pitiful $US36.5 million at the Chinese box office.

And before you say “but nobody’s going to the movies in COVID-19”, a film called The Eight Hundred — a Chinese-made movie about a heroic stand against the invading Japanese — has raked in $US425 million.

Christopher Nolan’s movie Tenet, which was most definitely not made for the Chinese market, has made $US61.4 million.

It’s another classic case of Hollywood thinking that going “woke” is an instant formula for success.

Mulan has only brought in $US36.5 million at the Chinese box office. Picture: Kevin Frayer/Getty

I can see the meetings now. Female lead? Tick. Asian lead? Tick. Messages about female empowerment? Tick, tick, tick.

They probably celebrated with glasses of organic Fairtrade kale juice give how they had created the perfect formula for box office gold.

Shame they forgot that you need to make the film entertaining as well.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, trying to force an MA-rated movie into a PG straitjacket didn’t help either.

People aren’t stupid.

They know when they are being given a mission statement and not a movie.

And China, in particular, is not stupid. The country might be run by a mob of totalitarian thugs whose corruption unleashed COVID-19 on to the world but its people are incredibly smart and sophisticated.

They know when Hollywood is trying to suck up to them and their bullshit detector would have been blaring loudly when Mulan landed.

And, talking of bullshit detectors and box-ticking exercises, Ellen DeGeneres attempted to resurrect her career this week after months of stories about a bullying culture on her chat show.

Ellen DeGeneres addresses the toxic workplace scandal on her show. Picture: YouTube

I reckon whoever wrote her “apology” speech was either the same one that came up with the Mulan script, or at the very least they subscribe to the same theories.

It was a masterclass in ticking boxes while saying nothing. Politicians everywhere would have been applauding and taking notes.

It just infuriates me that the Western world has decided, seeing as dishonesty is the second-best policy, let’s go with it.

If Ellen had got up there and said: “Listen guys, you don’t get to the top in this business unless you are driven, ruthless and incredibly hardworking. I’m sorry I didn’t say hello to every staff member every day but I’d never get anything done or see my family if that was the case. This ‘Be Kind’ business? It’s called acting, people. I tried being nice off stage the first time. What happened? My show got cancelled and I didn’t get a gig for years. Yes, I promoted people who were good at their job but lousy human beings. Show me one multimillion-dollar company that’s different. I promise to entertain you and, behind the scenes, make sure my employees do nothing that’s illegal. That’s the best I can offer because, while I like to dress in white, I’m not actually an angel.”

I’d certainly applaud that. But she’d never say it because she’s in Hollywood, where they always go for fantasy over reality.

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Originally published as Why the Hollywood remake of Mulan missed its mark in China