Disney's Live-Action Mulan Casts Its Emperor & Villain

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney's live-action Mulan has landed two massive Chinese stars Jet Li and Liu Yifei.

Jet Li is in final talks to play the emperor of China, who orders the mobilization of troops via the conscription of one male from each household. The titular heroine, Hua Mulan (Liu Yifei), disguises herself as a man in order to spare her elderly father from having to join the military.

Li is one of China's biggest stars. After the martial arts champ became a superstar in Asia on the strength of franchises like Shaolin Temple and Once Upon a Time in China, he made his Hollywood debut in 1998's LETHAL WEAPON 4, followed by Romeo Must Die opposite Aaliyah in 2000. His other credits include Zhang Yimou's Hero, Peter Ho-Sun Chan's 2007 epic The Warlords and The Expendablesseries.

Gong Li has been confirmed to play the villain of Mulan. She has been considered one of China's finest actresses and greatest beauties. A longtime muse of Zhang Yimou since her debut in 1988's Red Sorghum, she also has starred in his The Story of Qiu Ju (for which she won two Best Actress awards at Venice), Raise the Red Lantern, Curse of the Golden Flower and, most recently, 2014's Coming Home. She also earned international acclaim in Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine. Gong starred opposite Jeremy Irons in Wayne Wang's Chinese Box and has acted in English in Memoirs of a Geisha, Miami Viceand HANNIBAL Rising.

The film is scheduled for a Spring 2020 release.

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