First rumored in: December 2001
Status: Pre-production
Who's making it: Mythical Films/Han Entertainment, Tianjin Film Studio.
Website: Han Entertainment
Director: Peter Pau?
Tentative release date: 2005?
Language: Mandarin

Latest Development: Thanks to the Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre.

• 1 October 2004: Excerpt from CYF interview in Beijing: As for the rumored Hollywood movies, Chow said he had only discussed a few films "The Divide (Men of Destiny)" and "War of Red Cliff" but did not materialize. As for "Hua Mulan", he said, "I believe this movie is not going to happen. They (Yang Zhi Ging and Zhong Zai Si) already split up. How would there be cooperation?"
  
  
• 9 December 2003: According to "Information Times" (China) reporter who interviewed Michelle at the MTV Style Awards, the final version of the script of Hua Mulan is nearly completed. The male lead is still aiming for Chow Yun-Fat. However, the director may not have been fixed. Michelle told reporters that the production is expected to start in September or October next year. They will invite Chow Yun-Fat as well as a number of mainland actors.
  
  
• 9 November 2003: News excerpt: "As for the film HUA MULAN's preparation, Michelle Yeoh revealed that she has been working on the script. The cast would be decided after the script has been done, but she honestly hoped that she could work with Chow Yun Fat again. She expressed that although she and Fat Gor are good friends, she could not approach him without script.
  
  
• 22 October 2003: The Oriental Daily News reports that Chow Yun-Fat will soon start work with Diane Lane on a film adaptation of Augusta Trobaugh's book "Sophie and the Rising Sun". Reportedly, Chow has been looking forward to working with Lane ever since he saw her film "Unfaithful". There is no word on when shooting will begin. "Sophie and the Rising Sun" is set in the Southern United States of the 1940s and tells the story of a woman who falls in love with an Oriental man. Their romance is complicated by Pearl Harbour and the enusing wave of anti-Japanese sentiment.

  In related news, Chow Yun-Fat has supposedly turned down a role in Michelle Yeoh's "Hua Mulan". According to reports, Chow was not pleased with the way his character, a Chinese army general, was written. He remains linked to John Woo's "Men of Destiny". The Woo film is mired in pre-production.

  According to Chinese media, Michelle Yeoh is planning to start the shooting of Hua Mulan in September or October next year and she would not give up on getting Chow Yun-Fat onboard. During a news conference held in Beijing, Michelle Yeoh announced her signing up with HTA, a Beijing based acting agency. Michelle Yeoh said she wanted take a bet on comedy and would like to work with director Feng Xiaogang.

• 6 October 2003: Michelle Yeoh attended the Hong Kong Film and Television Market closing ceremony. And her reaction towards Chow Yun Fat's response that she has not approached him about starring in "Hua Mulan", she said that she has talked with Fat Gor about it. Because she has confirmed the film's production start date and Fat Gor's busy Hollywood work, scheduling has run into certain difficulties. Although she knew that Fat Gor would not have to return to America for a movie until the middle of next year, but she could not rush the production schedule. As for whether Fat Gor will be the only choice for General Li, she joked that since she is his number one fan she of course would like him to be able to star in the movie. No matter what, she will ask Fat Gor again. The fact is she has received a great sense of satisfaction when she worked with him in "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon".

• 1 October 2003: The Michelle Yeoh (Yeung Chi King) starred "Hua Mulan" is in preparation and she has been rumored to be interested in Fat Gor for the role of General Li. However, Fat Gor said Michelle Yeoh has never mentioned this to him or called him. He also joked that he will not take the initiative and call Michelle Yeoh to get an understanding because she is the boss.
  
• 20 September 2003: CYF might not be able to do the film because of "Sophie and the Rising Sun".
  
• 9 July 2003: Shooting for the film is delayed, it's been reported that cameras will start rolling in February 2004. And because of the delay, there are rumors circulating that Chow Yun-Fat might not be able to do the film due to a conflict in schedule. Could it be because of "Land of Destiny"?
  
  News excerpt from the Calgary Sun:
  
  John Woo Scouting in Calgary Area
  

  "We had thought we'd be filming exclusively in Los Angeles, but I just got a new script that makes me want to look at Calgary again," says Woo from the Vancouver set of Paycheck, the sci-fi thriller he's shooting with Ben Affleck.

  "I have seen Legends of the Fall and Unforgiven and that certainly impressed me, but what has impressed me even more is the excitement the Alberta Film Commission has in wanting us to film in the province. They have sent me some incredible location shots. It definitely makes me want to come and see them for myself.

  "We told them we were hoping to begin filming in February and would need a lot of snow. They assured me, that's one thing they could deliver."

• 17 May 2003: Posters from Cannes:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 15 May 2003: Michelle Yeoh & Chow Yun-Fat To Make 'Hua Mulan'
  
  Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat, last seen together in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, will team up again for a new Chinese historical epic Hua Mulan, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "I'm absolutely thrilled to be involved in a project that brings these two icons together again," said Thomas Chung from Han Entertainment, the company behind the movie. "He has already made very valuable input into his character." The project will go into production Aug. 22 in China.
  
  
• Chow Yun-Fat has joined Michelle Yeoh in the cast of $30m costume drama Hua Mulan which is being produced by Yeoh's Mythical Films and Han Entertainment. Described by Han managing director Thomas Chung as "Braveheart meets Ran", the film is scheduled to shoot in China from mid-August.
  
  Peter Pau, who directed Mythical's debut The Touch, is directing and the crew also includes renowned action choreographer Corey Yuen and Oscar-winning art director Tim Yip. The film is scripted by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon co-screenwriter Huang Wei Ling.
  
  
• 14 May 2003: Yeoh and Yun-Fat Reteaming on Hua Mulan
  
  Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat, who starred together in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, will team up again for a new Chinese historical epic, Hua Mulan, which goes into production Aug. 22 in China.
  
  The $30 million Chinese-language film tells the story of legendary female Chinese Gen. Hua Mulan (Yeoh), who pretends to be a man and joins the army in replacement for her aged father. Chow is slated for the role of Gen. Li, who recognizes Mulan's talent on the battlefield and boosts her up the ranks but later finds himself falling for her feminine side.
  
  The Hollywood Reporter says the film will be directed by Peter Pau, the Oscar-winning cinematographer of "Crouching Tiger" who helmed Yeoh's 2001 film The Touch. Wang Huiling, from mainland China, who penned the "Crouching Tiger" script, is writing the script. The shoot takes place in seven major locations in China, including Qinghai, Chejiang and Beijing. It also will include a major battle scene -- a re-enactment of a battle between the Han Chinese and the invading Turks -- featuring more than 1,000 extras and 300 horses.
  
  
• 14 May 2003: Report from Hong Kong: co-producer Thomas Chung announced that Chow Yun-Fat had agreed to star in Hua Mulan. On a telephone interview of May 14th, Chow told reporters that he would go to Beijing in August for the film shooting. The film will be shot in Mandarin.
  
  
• 18 April 2003: Tim Yip, the costume designer for the film, has confirmed that Chow is definitely playing the male lead playing the "General" opposite Michelle Yeoh in the film. There were reports about Chow not being able to do the film because of schedule problems and Tony Leung Chui Wai being considered for the role. During a phone interview with Chow Yun-Fat with Taiwanese reporters, Chow admitted that he had met with Peter Pau, Michelle and Thomas Chung for Hua Mulan. The filming is expected to start at the middle of August. Chow Yun-Fat said he is looking forward to being Mark (his famous role in 1986's A Better Tomorrow) of Sui Dynasty. In an earlier interview with Tim Yip, he said they were going to try various character designs for Chow Yun-Fat, including beard in different lengths and his armor in the film, will be less modern.
  
  
• 11 April 2003: Taiwanese reporters interviewed Tim Yip, the art director and costume designer of Hua Mulan, who just returned from Yinchuan (Ningxia province, where a section of the Yellow River lies) where they were doing location scouting for the film. Tim Yip has been working on the film design, which will have a natural and realistic style according to Yip. They had invited some scholars and historians for consulting. Yip said that vast battle scenes would be much bigger than those in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. There might be some CGI enhanced battle scenes, but 90% of them would be real. As for costume and character designs, Tim Yip said more than 10,000 costumes would be needed. He would like to design Michelle's character - while in armor - more female; and Chow Yun-Fat, the male lead, less modern. Note that there have been reports about Chow Yun-Fat may not be able to star due to schedule conflict. But according to Tim Yip, the male lead is Chow. More than half of the main cast and crew are from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. "Only Ang Lee is missing," said Tim Yip.
  
  
• 9 January 2003: According to "Oriental Daily" (Hong Kong), the candidates for the male lead of Michelle's Hua Mulan are Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Butterfly & Sword, In the Mood For Love, Hero). The film company is contacting with them to see if their schedules would fit. About the crew: besides the director Peter Pau, reportedly the action director for Hua Mulan will be Corey Yuen, who directed Michelle's Yes Madam in 1985. The art director will be the Oscar winner for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tim Yip.