Disney's MULAN is Getting a Theatrical Release in China Soon and The New Poster Has Gotten Some Fan Backlash
While Disney’s highly-anticipated live-action adaptation of Mulan is coming to Disney+ on September 4th for a price of $29.99, the movie will actually get a theatrical release in other parts of the world, so some people will actually have the opportunity to see the movie on the big screen, which is the experience that I was hoping for.
Mulan has now been officially approved for theatrical release in one of the biggest international markets in the world… China. Disney announced that Mulan will arrive in Chinese theaters sometime in the near future, but there is still no exact date yet. We just know that it’s coming soon.
Disney made the announcement on China’s popular social media site Weibo, which is basically their version of Twitter. The Tweet came with a new poster for the film and this statement, which was translated by Variety:
“When the magnolia blossom opens, it lives up to its reputation and arrives as promised. [‘Mulan’’s] import is confirmed and it will soon burst into bloom in theaters; looking forward to meeting you!”
The announcement and poster did receive some criticism from fans. The poster was called “ugly” and “dated,” by some people. One commenter wrote, “Did foreigners design this?? Is this for real??” Another said, “It looks like you messed up your Photoshop.” Another echoed the sentiment: “At first I thought this was a poster put out by some cinema itself; only after searching did I figure out that this was actually issued by Disney itself.”
Other people were poking fun at the poster and comparing it to the B-grade local Chinese production saying that it” had the look of promo for a straight-to-streaming internet movie or soap.” One person said, “It looks just like an anti-Japanese war drama.”
The chosen font for the poster also solicited some criticism because it’s “reminiscent of early 2000s communal notices put up in residential compounds to remind people to take out their trash than Northern Wei dynasty poetry.” One person joked, “so low-brow it’s like picking your foot in public.” Another commented, “It’s even worse than the [animated ‘Mulan’] poster 22 years ago. Unbelievable that in this day and age you could still see such an outdated font design coming from Disney.”
So, maybe Disney should’ve put more thought and effort into the poster!