Disney Still Moving Forward With Mulan Release Despite China Shutdowns

The outbreak of Coronavirus is effecting multiple countries across the world, but none more than China, where the virus originated. Due to the devastating effects of the outbreak, many industries throughout the country are shutting down, causing people to stay in their homes and theaters to close This has caused a massive revenue decline in revenue at the Chinese box office and there’s no telling exactly when the virus will be controlled and things will get back to normal. In the meantime, it has caused movie studios to rethink their plans for releases in China.

Disney is releasing one of its biggest movies of the year next month, and one that is sure to perform well in China under normal circumstances. Mulan, a US-China co-production, is a large-scale reimagining of a classic Chinese tale. Disney likely expected huge returns in China, but if the theaters aren’t open, that March release date isn’t going to happen. This means that Disney can’t release Mulan at the same time as the other major markets around the globe, forcing the studio to decide whether to delay the entire release or just wait and show it in China when things have settled down. It looks as though Disney is choosing option number one.

The final trailer for Mulan was released during the Super Bowl this past weekend and it confirmed that the release date for Mulan hasn’t been delayed. The House of Mouse released an ad during the biggest TV event of the year less than two months ahead of Mulan‘s March 27th release date, and the date wasn’t changed. Things are going forward as planned.

This will likely cause a dip in revenue from China when the country’s theaters are back up and running, given that the rest of the world will have seen the film already. Still, it seems that Disney is hopeful that it won’t jeopardize the overall haul too much when all is said and done. Mulan cost about $300 million to make and it could be disastrous for the Mouse if it severely underperforms.

Are you looking forward to Mulan arriving next month? Let us know in the comments!