Disney has put their live-action Mulan on the fast track to production by scheduling the film for a fall 2018 release. The studio is moving quickly to find an all Asian cast and an Asian director. Disney made an offer to Academy Award winner Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), but he declined.

But the mouse house isn’t the only studio working on a Mulan project. Sony is working on one as well, and the race is on. More on the story below.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Disney offered Ang Lee the chance to direct Mulan, and that the director ultimately turned it down. Recently, the film met some controversy. An early draft, written by Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek, revealed a European male defending China after falling in love with Mulan. Yes, the white savior caught a mild case of yellow fever. However, after Disney purchased the script, they brought Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Jurassic World) to do the rewrites, which will have the title character falling in love with an Asian love interest.

The report says Sony is also looking for an Asian director to helm their Mulan. Mirror, Mirror‘s Jason Keller wrote the script. It should be noted that the studio will be distributing Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk later this year. So the studio may make an offer to Lee depending on the success of that film. Their film will also feature a predominantly Asian cast.

Disney’s development of live-action adaptations of their animated classics follows the success of Maleficent, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book. Next year they will release a live-action re-telling of Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens.

This isn’t the first time that Disney is in the middle of dueling projects. This year, Disney released Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book. The film was such a huge success, grossing approximately $996.2 million worldwide. Warner Bros had push back the release of Andy Serkis’ Jungle Book: Origins nearly a full year.

However, THR says Sony’s Mulan is still in the very early stages of development and will be released long after Disney’s hits theaters.

Disney’s Mulan will be hitting theaters on November 2, 2018.

[Source: THR]