Disney ‘very pleased’ with ‘Mulan’ debut ahead of China opening

(C) Reuters. Christine McCarthy, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, The Walt Disney Company smiles as she speaks during the Milken Institute’s 22nd annual Global Conference in Beverly Hills

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co (N:DIS) is “very pleased” with initial results of its unusual release strategy for live-action movie epic “Mulan,” Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said at an investor conference on Wednesday.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, “Mulan” was made available for purchase in the United States on the Disney+ streaming platform over the Labor Day holiday weekend, and in movie theaters in a handful of other countries.

The film will debut in cinemas in China, the world’s second largest movie market, on Friday.

McCarthy, speaking via online video to the Citi 2020 Global Technology Conference, said the company would offer additional details about Mulan’s performance at its next quarterly earnings report in November.

“We are very pleased with what we saw” over the Labor Day weekend, McCarthy said, adding it was “just the beginning” for the film, which cost Disney $200 million to produce.

“Mulan,” a remake of an animated Disney classic about a female warrior in China, was designed to appeal to audiences in the country. But the movie has run into controversy over its star’s support of Hong Kong police and for being partly filmed in the Xinjiang region, where China’s clampdown on ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims has been criticized by some governments, including the United States, and human rights groups.