by Nathaniel R
It isn't enough for Disney that they have the top four box office hits of the year thus far (Endgame, Captain Marvel, Aladdin, and Toy Story 4) with The Lion King still on the way to make it a top five. No, they'd now like to remind you that they still have movies coming in 2019 and will also be dominating 2020. In the past 24 hours or so Maleficent: Mistress of Evil got another trailer and Mulan delivered its first teaser and poster. That's all after the jump...
MALEFICENT MISTRESS OF EVIL
Harris Dickinson speaks! The first full trailer was all Michelle Pfeiffer's narration and Angelina Jolie's naughtiness but this time the new Prince Philip gets to kick it off and his nuptial dreams are not sitting well with Maleficent. This trailer gives us a lot more of the plot and it's obviously Queen Michelle versus Maleficent for Princess Aurora's heart. But, guys, I'm worried about the acting in this one as much as I love these actresses. It seems, well,... we'll reserve judgment. It's just a trailer.
MULAN
Yifei Lu stars as Mulan but Disney is obviously going to meter out the reveals from this movie because in this trailer there's no sight of three of Asia's biggest stars Gong Li (❤️), Jet Li, and Donnie Yen who are all in the movie somewhere. Other members of the cast include Jason Scott Lee (!) , Pei-Pei Cheng, Rosalind Chao, Tzi Ma as Mulan's father, and Yoson An who we believe is playing Mulan's commanding officer (and love interest ...of sorts) but they've changed some of the character names so we're not quite sure. It's also no longer a musical like the animated film and we don't think there's a pet dragon so at least this time they won't be able to do a full reenactment of an animated film only with actors... which makes it possible (theoretically that is) that this remake will actually be good since it will have to be its own thing! Good luck to all involved.
For Oscar freaks and below-the-line obsessives, please note that most of the crew have never been nominated but some of them are sure ready to be. The costume designer Bina Daigeler's filmography includes Only Lovers Left Alive, Biutiful, All About My Mother, Volver and recently The Zookeeper's Wife. The cinematography is by Mandy Walker (Australia, Tracks, Jane Got a Gun) who is still waiting on her first Oscar nomination. The Makeup designer is Denis Kum (Pan, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Whale Rider, Spartacus TV series) And the score is by Harry Gregson-Williams (The Martian, Chronicles of Narnia, Blackat, The Zookeeper's Wife). There is at least one previous Oscar winner on board though. Grant Major on Production Design is a four time nominee (all for Peter Jackson movies) winning his only Oscar for The Lord of the Rings: Return fo the King