According to The Hollywood Reporter, Niki Caro has been hired to direct Disney’s live-action adaptation of Mulan. Previously she directed McFarland USA for Disney in 2015. She joins A Wrinkle in Time’s Ava DuVernay as women directors that are helming movies at Disney that are budgeted over $100 million.
According to the report other directors being considered included Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins and Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones). Caro’s hiring likely takes her out of the running for Captain Marvel.
Disney has hoped that they would be able to seek an Asian director but were unable to come to terms with one after considering directors such as Ang Lee and Rogue One’s Jiang Wen. Disney is bringing on Bill Kong as an Executive Producer. Kong produced several Chinese films that crossed over to American audiences such as Hero, House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
No release date has been released for the live-action Mulan.