--- description: Niki Caro, director of Disney's 2018 live-action remake of the 1998 animated film "Mulan," on the thing she finds depressing about the job. title: What the Director of the Mulan Remake Finds 'Depressing' About the Job image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9fa39b167983f50/6988bf21ab6d7768626ad48a/niki-caro.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What the Director of Disney’s _Mulan_ Remake Finds 'Depressing' About the Job  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 20, 2017 8:56 PM CUT  Director Niki Caro attends a screening of "The Zookeeper's Wife" on March 19, 2017 in New York City. Director Niki Caro attends a screening of "The Zookeeper's Wife" on March 19, 2017 in New York City.Paul Zimmerman—WireImage/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 20, 2017 8:56 PM CUT Since breaking out internationally with _Whale Rider_ in 2002, New Zealand director Niki Caro has produced a steady stream of well-regarded dramas. She has directed three actresses to Oscar nominations: first, _Whale Rider_’s Keisha Castle-Hughes — at that time the youngest actress to be nominated for a supporting role — then Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand in 2005’s _North Country_. And now, as the director of the live-action remake of Disney’s 1998 animated musical [_Mulan_](http://time.com/4518450/disney-sets-a-date-for-live-action-mulan-movie/ "undefined"), she will become the [fourth woman](http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/15/14622646/mulan-niki-caro-female-director-disney "undefined") to solo-direct a movie with a budget north of $100 million. Speaking to TIME about her upcoming movie [_The Zookeeper’s Wife_](http://time.com/4573764/the-zookeepers-wife-trailer-jessica-chastain/ "undefined"), which stars [Jessica Chastain](http://time.com/4054774/jessica-chastain-hollywood-oversexualizes-female-action-stars/ "undefined") as real-life Polish hero Antonina Żabiński, who saved hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust, Caro took a moment to address her inclusion on a short list that includes Kathryn Bigelow (_K-19: The Widowmaker_), Patty Jenkins (this June’s [_Wonder Woman_](http://time.com/4420720/wonder-woman-director-patty-jenkins/ "undefined")) and [Ava DuVernay](http://time.com/4662871/ava-duvernay-13th-documentary-interview/ "undefined") (next year’s [_A Wrinkle in Time_](http://time.com/4681003/oprah-margarita-reese-witherspoon/ "undefined"), also from Disney). When asked how it feels to join this group, Caro sighed. “That’s depressing, isn’t it? As a statistic, that’s really depressing.” But she acknowledged the studio responsible for tapping the latest names on the list. “Big ups to Disney for the fact that their last two movies are directed by women.” And she displayed no uncertainty about what she plans to do now that she’s one of them: “Me and Ava,” she promised, “we’ll just kick that door wide open so more can follow.” Disney’s _Mulan_ remake is just one of many beloved [animated films the studio is revisiting](http://time.com/4525871/disney-live-action-movies/ "undefined"), from last year’s _The Jungle Book_ and the [_Beauty and the Beast_](http://time.com/4689999/beauty-and-the-beast-review/ "undefined") remake in theaters now to Guy Ritchie’s forthcoming take on _Aladdin_ and Tim Burton’s live-action _Dumbo_. Last fall, Disney put out a [casting call](http://www.teenvogue.com/story/mulan-casting-call-actors-speak-english-mandarin-chinese "undefined") for actors bilingual in English and Mandarin to star in _Mulan_, which is due November 2018\. And while _Beauty and the Beast_ retained the original movie’s songs, even adding a few, Caro recently confirmed to [_Moviefone_](https://www.moviefone.com/2017/03/17/mulan-exclusive-niki-caro/ "undefined") that the remake, based on current plans, will not be a musical. Caro, who will start work on _Mulan_ after _The Zookeeper’s Wife_ is released on March 31, may be a little biased after landing the gig, but she says she favors Mulan above the Belles and Ariels of Disney’s royal history. “Of all the princesses, she’s the most kick-ass. I love her the most,” she says. “I have daughters, so I’m down with all princesses, but I’m particularly down with Mulan.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4707055/mulan-disney-remake-niki-caro/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4707055/mulan-disney-remake-niki-caro/"},"headline":"What the Director of Disney’s Mulan Remake Finds 'Depressing' About the Job","datePublished":"2017-03-20T20:56:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:56:06.060Z","description":"The live-action version is due in late 2018","url":"https://time.com/4707055/mulan-disney-remake-niki-caro/","keywords":["movies","Disney","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9fa39b167983f50/6988bf21ab6d7768626ad48a/niki-caro.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9fa39b167983f50/6988bf21ab6d7768626ad48a/niki-caro.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Director Niki Caro attends a screening of \"The Zookeeper's Wife\" on March 19, 2017 in New York City.","caption":"Director Niki Caro attends a screening of \"The Zookeeper's Wife\" on March 19, 2017 in New York City.","creditText":"Paul Zimmerman—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4707055/mulan-disney-remake-niki-caro/","name":"What the Director of Disney’s Mulan Remake Finds 'Depressing' About the Job"}}]}] ```