Early projections hint that Disney could lose up to $100 million in potential sales if Mulan does not open in China theaters owing to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that has affected 82,000 all over the world and killed 2,800 people.
According to a report by The Observer, this is one of the main challenges that Mulan's live-action version will have to deal with as it tries to do well in the global market with some 70,000 movie theaters in China remaining closed because of COVID-19.
Before the release of Mulan's Live-Action version, it was relying heavily on the box office performance of the war epic film based on the Chinese historical figure on the Chinese market. Investing $200 million on the film, production tweaked some elements from the animated version to appeal to a new market and cater to the Asian market.
The film was initially being targeted for a global simultaneous release to address issues of piracy, a problem that the original Mulan movie faced, resulting in its poor showing in the Chinese box office. During the time, the release of the animated film was delayed by a year due to previous issues with Disney's treatment of the 1997 film Kundun.
According to reports, The new film was tailored towards honoring the legend and not disappointing fans of the original film which earned $475 million globally to date.China is currently the second richest box office region in the world generating some $9.2 billion in sales based on 2019 records. Due to the COVID-19 scare in the world, box office losses are already approaching a projected $4 billion by the end of March.
Apart from the closure of Chinese cinemas, Mulan Live Action also faces the threat of a massive boycott after lead star Liu Yifei spoke up over the conflict between the Chinese government and HongKong protesters over legislation on extradition.
"I support Hong Kong's police, you can beat me up now. What a shame for Hong Kong. #Ialsosupporthongkongpolice," Yifei posted at the height of the conflict last year.
The threatened boycott in HongKong was actually seen as a positive development at the time as it was expected to compel Chinese moviegoers who were sympathetic to the government's position, to see the movie. However, with the closure of Chinese theaters, the pressure is on for Mulan to so well in the US and other parts of the world to recover Disney's massive $200 million budget for the film, reported Deadline.
