Rogue One Star Donnie Yen Gets A Role In Disney's Live-Action 'Mulan' Reboot
Donnie Yen has bagged a role in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney's Mulan. The international star will play a major character in the film.
New Character
A source with knowledge about the movie revealed that Yen has nabbed the role of Commander Tung. Mulan fans may not be familiar with the character and that is because he is brand new. He is created for the adaptation.
Yen plays a key role in the movie as Mulan's teacher and mentor. Fans may remember that in the 1998 animated film, the female warrior only had one mentor and that is the dragon Mushu. Casting for the voice role of the character has yet to be announced.
Details remain scarce about how Yen landed the role and how his character looks like in live-action Mulan. However, his addition to the film brings homage to the Chinese characters in the original 1998 animated movie. Yen's casting also helps bring the film to international audience given that he is one of the known Chinese stars in Hollywood.
Portraying the role of Commander Tung in the live-action Mulan might be a walk in the park for Yen. After all, he is an experienced and exceptional martial artist. He was the martial arts choreographer as well as an actor in the 2000 film Highlander: Endgame and in the 2002 movie Blade II. He has also acted opposite Jackie Chan in the 2003 film Shanghai Knights. Currently, Yen is busy filming for the action-packed Ip Man 4.
Second day of filming for Ipman4, yes I’m back! pic.twitter.com/2vctH9OahZ — Donnie Yen 甄子丹 (@DonnieYenCT) April 11, 2018
Yen's scenes in the modern take of Disney's Mulan are bound to be among the memorable moments in the film. It is a wonder though if he will play the fallen mentor that is prevalent in most heroic movies.
Cast And Crew
The live-action Mulan will be Yen's second project under Disney. He was also in the Disney-produced movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, where he played the blind character Chirrut Imwe.
Niki Caro will direct the movie set for theater release on March 27, 2020. Chris Bender, Jake Weiner, and Jason Reed will produce opposite Chinese producer Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as executive producer.
Yen is the latest addition to the still-expanding cast of the live-action Mulan. He will star in the film opposite fellow Chinese star Liu Yifei who was cast in November for the title role.
