Why China Hates Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Has Nothing to Do With Politics

Rebecca Davis editorWith U.S. studio tentpoles dropping out of the theatrical calendar, Chinese blockbusters may find a rare opportunity to gain some traction abroad.

Rebecca Davis editorPeter Chan’s volleyball drama “Leap” has jumped above its competition in China this weekend with a $24.6 million three-day debut, highlighting Chinese audiences’ continued preference for well-crafted local titles, according to data from the Maoyan industry tracker. The score is higher than the $23 million opening of Disney’s “Mulan” the weekend of Sept.

Rebecca Davis editorFemale-led volleyball drama “Leap” hit China with an $8.2 million opening day Friday, narrowly topping the premiere-day box office haul of Disney’s “Mulan” earlier this month, according to industry tracker Maoyan.

Holdover local war epic The Eight Hundred dominated Mulan over the weekend in China, as the Disney tentpole continued its precipitous decline in its most important theatrical market. The Eight Hundred, which has been in cinemas for a month, earned $17.7 million, lifting its total gross to $423.2 million, according to data from local box office tracker Artisan Gateway.

Rebecca Davis editorDisney’s “Mulan” made only $6.47 million over its second weekend in China, allowing it to be handily defeated once again by the local war epic “The Eight Hundred,” according to data from industry tracker Maoyan.As of Sunday evening, the Disney title has earned a cumulative $36.5 million (RMB 247 million) in the key territory.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorRefresh for latest…: Christopher Nolan’s Tenet handily passed $200M overseas this weekend with a $25M offshore frame to bring the overseas box office to $214M. Including domestic, the global cume is now $250.1M.

Disney's Mulan malfunctioned in its China box office debut with a disheartening $23.2 million. The $200 million tentpole was made with both Chinese and American audiences top of mind.

Rebecca Davis editorDisney’s “Mulan” opened in China this weekend with disappointing figures of just $23 million, far from the slam dunk it had hoped for in a critical territory.While it still was the highest grosser of the weekend, it came in just a hair above the local historical epic “The Eight Hundred,” which grossed $21.7 million, according to data from the Maoyan industry tracker.Industry players say that Disney may have chosen to put aside the levity and musical numbers of the original

76 Days— which follows exhausted doctors and nurses in Wuhan, China struggling to cope as the deadly global outbreak of the new coronavirus first originated — will be eagerly anticipated at the Toronto Film Festival as it's the first documentary from ground zero of the COVID-19 crisis to reach movie theaters. The irony is the ongoing global pandemic will keep New York City-based co-director Hao Wu from physically attending the world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept.

recently reopened Orange County, furthering the trend of closure-adjacent markets getting a boost from residents in cities like Los Angeles and New York driving further to see a film.More to come…

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorRefresh for latest…: Disney’s Mulan ultimately settled for a $23.2M three-day opening in China, including previews. This is about where we saw it landing yesterday after downgrading projections for the Middle Kingdom launch.

SEOUL, South Korea -- Disney is under fire for filming part of its live-action reboot “Mulan” in Xinjiang, the region in China where the government has been accused of human rights abuses against Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.The final credits in the film, which was released on Disney Plus last week and is being rolled out in several countries this month, thank propaganda departments in Xinjiang and the public security bureau of Turpan, a Uighur-majority city in the

The new Disney movie Mulan has been generating backlash after it was discovered that portions of the movie were filmed in a controversial area of China.

has sells subscriptions to Disney’s news streaming service, Disney+.Only customers in China and a handful of other Asian countries are being given the chance to see the flick on the big screen. Everyone else must pay $30 or wait until Dec.

Disney's Mulan is off to a low-key start at China's theatrical box office, a market where it was once expected to be a sure-fire blockbuster. Mulan had pulled in just $4.4 million (30 million RMB) as of 5 p.m., Beijing time, Friday, according to data from local box office tracker Artisan Gateway.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorMulan, Disney’s live-action update on its 1998 animated classic grossed an estimated RMB 52.5M ($8.26M) on its opening Friday in China. The figure includes midnights, and portends a three-day weekend around $26M.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefDisney’s Chinese-themed “Mulan” got off to a soft start on its debut in mainland China theaters on Friday.By 7pm on opening day, the Niki Caro-directed film had clocked up $6.23 million (RMB42.6 million), according to data from film ticketing agency Maoyan.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorDisney CFO Christine McCarthy addressed the controversy over Mulan, which critics accuse of indirectly favoring the oppression of Uighur Muslims in China, noting the uproar has created “a lot of issues.”Authorities in the Xinjiang province, an area where Uighurs have been detained in mass internment camps, authorized filming in the region and a government agency is acknowledged in the film’s credits. Critics, including politicians like U.S.

Mulan” is escalating, with a US senator accusing the Mouse House of “whitewashing genocide” as it cooperated with the Chinese government to get the movie made.As the film nears its theatrical debut in China on Friday, critics have pointed to a line in the movie’s credits that thanks the Xinjiang authorities, including one entity on the US-sanctions list, for their cooperation.