Actress Ziyi Zhang is set to portray the legendary Mulan in an upcoming Jan de Bont film. While many tend to think of the animated Disney classic of the same name upon hearing the word “Mulan,” the story of the heroine actually originated from a poem written in the 700s, according to Empire Online.
Here’s what the film's producer Ying Ye had to say about the upcoming project:
“This is the first independent film directed by Jan de Bont, whose worldwide box office track record is huge. We’re trying not to think about the fact that he also made ‘Speed 2: Cruise Control,’ of course.”
Zhang has a great track record with action-oriented films such as the Best Picture-nominated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and acclaimed House of Flying Daggers. Additionally, her performances in those films have also received their fare share of awards attention. On the other hand, De Bont’s career hasn’t been met with the same success. Although he had a promising directorial debut with the 1994 film Speed, his follow-up efforts, which include The Haunting and the aforementioned Speed 2: Cruise Control, were less than promising.
Whether or not the film itself is good, Zhang should make for a fantastic Mulan. At least we can look forward to another great performance. If De Bont can follow up on his promising debut, then we might have an incredible action film. One can only hope.
