Is the upcoming movie a musical?
This is not the same Mulan.
Disney released the first footage for its upcoming live-action Mulan remake on Sunday, and it was obvious within the first few seconds of the teaser trailer: the movie will strike a much different tone than its 1998 animated predecessor. Director Niki Caro's sweeping landscape shots and epic battle sequences impressed fans, while others were left wondering about the lack of music and if this version would be a musical at all.
Missing from the 90-second teaser was any singing, least of all fan-favorite songs like "Reflection" or "I'll Make a Man Out of You" -- and in a 2017 interview with Moviefone, Caro said those Disney classics won't make an appearance in the movie. ET has reached out to Disney for comment.
"From what I understand, no songs right now, much to the horror of my children," Caro explained at the time, while other outlets have reported the songs will appear as instrumental tracks, without singing by the cast.
Mulan wouldn't be the first of Disney's live-action remakes not to take the musical route. Both 2015's Cinderella and this year's Dumbo excluded the music of their animated counterparts.
Interestingly enough, Mulan's star, Yifei Liu -- who won the part after a worldwide casting search -- has a singing background. The 31-year-old actress released her first Japanese single, "Mayonaka no Door," with Sony Music in 2006, and her debut album, Liu Yifei, was released that year in various parts of Asia.
Rounding out the cast of Mulan is Donnie Yen as Commander Tung; Jason Scott Lee as Böri Khan; Yoson An as Cheng Honghui; with Gong Li as Xianniang and Jet Li as the Emperor.
Mulan hits theaters on March 27, 2020.
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