Coronavirus and a political boycott trip up 'Mulan' at the box office

Chinese moviegoers are not flocking to the live-action 'Mulan.'

There are those who say the first sign that Disney's live-action remake of Mulan was in trouble was when they decided to eliminate the beloved animated dragon Mushu voiced by comedian Eddie Murphy.

Even before the twin releases to theaters and on Disney Plus, the online streamer, there were concerns that Mulan was not going to live up to the hype despite an all-star, all-Asian and Asian American cast bolstered by the Disney studio's full-throttled support.

The new retelling of Mulan, an old Chinese myth, slogged through a few miscues along the way to its long-delayed, but highly anticipated, release last month.

A Disney executive on recently briefly addressed the controversy plaguing his studio's big budget, live-action reboot of Mulan, which has generated backlash for being filmed partly in China’s Xinjiang region. That’s where Uighur Muslims have been imprisoned en masse in so-called “re-education centers.”

“I’m not a box office predicator [or] prognosticator, but [the backlash] has generated a lot of publicity; let’s leave it at that,” said Christine McCarthy, The Walt Disney Co.’s chief financial officer, at a Bank of America Virtual 2020 Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference.

As an indicator, the blockbuster did not top the Chinese box office, pulling in a disappointing $23 million in its first weekend in China. Mulan earned only $1.47 million on its second Friday to bring its eight-day total to $31.17 million. 

Months before the movie opened (Sept. 4 on Disney+ and in theaters in the Chinese market) there were calls for a boycott from Hong Kong protestors (prime movie-going age group) beause of Mulan star Liu Yifei's  statement of support for Hong Kong police, and by extension, the Beijing communist government. 

When Mulan was released on Disney+, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong tweeted, "This film is released today. But because Disney kowtows to Beijing, and because Liu Yifei openly and proudly endorses police brutality in Hong Kong, I urge everyone who believes in human rights to #BoycottMulan." That hashtag went viral.

That movement and boycott has gained momentum as the movie's general release date kept being postponed because of the coronavirus.

Speaking of COVID-19, Disney decided to go ahead and release their film despite not all of China's theaters not being able to open because of the pandemic.

READ: My short, short review of Mulan.

The backlash against Mulan gained even more traction after it was released in theaters and online at Disney-Plus when eagle-eye moviegoers watched the credits at the end of the movie. Disney thanked the government and officials of Xinjiang, China, the region where Uighur Muslims are being detained in mass internment camps, according to The New York Times.

Xinjiang, in western China, is home to about 11 million Uyghur people, "a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority that speak a language closely related to Turkish and have their own distinct culture," according to CNN. About one million Uyghurs are estimated to be detained in camps in the area, where they reportedly endure torture, abuse, political indoctrination, and forced labor. The Chinese government denies claims of abuse and says the camps are "vocational training centers" and necessary for preventing terrorism. 

Activists have used social media to spread the message that supporting Mulan is tantamount to being complicit in these human rights violations. 

Disney's head of finance, Christine McCarthy, responded to the controversy, saying that the criticism is overblown and that only small portions of the film were shot in Xinjiang.

"The real facts are that Mulan was primarily shot -- almost in entirety -- in New Zealand, said Disney's head of finance, Christine McCarthy, reports Deadline. "In an effort to accurately depict some of the unique landscape and geography of the country of China for this period drama, we filmed scenery in 20 different locations in China. It's common knowledge that, in order to film in China, you have to be granted permission. That permission comes from the central government."

"So, in our credits, it recognized both China and locations in New Zealand. I would just leave it at that, but it has generated a lot of issues for us."

Additionally, China's complex relations with neighboring countries has generated calls for boycotts in India, Singapore and South Korea.

As the backlash over Disney’s collaboration with Xinjiang began to pick up steam, days before the film's Sept. 11 opening in China, Chinese state media initiated a media blackout of coverage of the film robbing the Disney folks of any momentum in publicizing their $200-million movie, according to Reuters.

Chinese stars were cast in 'Mulan.'

The highly anticipated film was  tailored for the Chinese market, the second largest int he world after the U.S., by dropping the fantasy and music of the original 1996 cartoon version in order to become more culturally appropriate, spending months to study the costumes and architecture of the era and casting big-name Chinese stars such as Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Gong Li and Liu Yifei.

In the U.S., its draw among Asian Americans was that it was the first big-budget movie produced by a Hollywood studio with an all-Asian cast with an Asian theme. The first was Crazy Rich Asians which dispelled studio-held beliefs that movies with Asian lead actors couldn't draw multi-racial audiences.

Two other studio-driven movies, Flower Drum Song and the Joy Luck Club, preceded  Crazy Rich Asians but both were isolated blips in Asian American movie history. Neither of the films didn't  break box-office expectations to gain any follow-up momentum for other Asian American related films, a groundbreaking feat accomplished by Crazy Rich Asians. That breakthrough opened the doors for several other Hollywood productions with Asian themes with AAPI lead characters. 

To be sure, Mulan is a beautiful film and the action scenes are spectacular and is worth the a pleasant 2-hour escape from today's troubles. However, I'm not sure if that is enough to overcome the fortune-cookie dialogue the actors are saddled with. It's as if the writers had just watched "Little Grasshopper" get lectured to in the TV show Kung Fu and think all Chinese normally speak English in this stilted way.

Mulan's so-so performance thus far raises fears among AAPI Hollywood artists that feed the old, racist belief among the movie-making industry's decision-makers that Asian-led films aren't profitable.

We'll have to wait and see how Mulan does globally when more American theaters open their doors to see if the Disney can recoup its $200-million investment.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this article is news laced with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions. 

UPDATED Sept. 21, 9:45 s.m. for clarity.