It’s hard to get a real handle on how well the live-action Mulan remake performed financially, especially when Disney haven’t revealed any concrete figures as to how much revenue it generated from Disney Plus Premier Access sales.
Various reports have placed the figure at somewhere between $62 million and $93 million from the United States, but if the theatrical industry had been operating at full capacity when the movie was released, it would have comfortably surpassed that total in its opening weekend alone.
What we do know is that it bombed internationally and wound up earning just $70 million, and it must have been a real kick in the teeth for the Mouse House to see it flop in China. The studio went out of its way to appeal to local audiences, even removing Mushu entirely and cutting a kissing scene to appease the notoriously strict censorship board, only to have Mulan swept up in controversy instead.
As you surely know, most of the headlines surrounding Niki Caro’s blockbuster were of the negative variety, something the Disney higher ups admitted had caused some unwanted problems. However, a new rumor now claims that a sequel is in the early stages of development, despite Mulan more than likely resulting in a hefty loss given the $200 million budget and lack of theatrical recompense.
Of course, Disney have announced follow-ups to their live-action remakes before, only for them to vanish into the ether. For instance, a sequel to Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book was officially confirmed in April 2016, but that was about the beginning and end of that particular conversation. From a solely commercial perspective, it might not be worth the massive investment required to continue Mulan‘s story, even if this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about such plans already, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.