In a huge change from her usual roles as a mistress or a prostitute (best seen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or perhaps Hero, or perhaps House of Flying Daggers, or Memoirs of a Geisha), Zhang Ziyi is being wooed by the Weinstein brothers to play Hua Mulan in a live-action film about the Chinese girl who masqueraded as a man to replace her father in an army draft. Disney made an animated version of the story back in 1998.

The Weinstein brothers also acquired rights to remake Akira Kurosawa’s classic The Seven Samurai, and is negotiating with Zhang for that movie as well.

Fortunately, I have high hopes for Zhang to play Mulan well. After all, she’s already had practice dressing up as a man, and her fighting skills have been ingrained in every American’s mind (though I’m told she’s only been professionally trained in dance). I adored Disney’s Mulan, so we’ll have to see if Zhang can also pull it off.

One Response to “Zhang Ziyi may play a Chinese hero”

1. Cibbuano says:

   June 14, 2006 at 9:57 pm

   I’m getting tired of all this Zhang Ziyi hype… she is a cutie, but I don’t know if I’d say she’s a fantastic actress…

   Reply