A major flop for Disney, 2020’s Mulan made just $70 million at the worldwide box office, an astonishing $130 million less than its $200 million production budget. It reportedly lost $146 million in total, or $186 million in 2026 money. The live-action reboot formula had previously worked well for the likes of Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, so why was Mulan such a failure?

The film was dogged by controversy, with American audiences missing songs and characters that had been cut to cater to a Chinese audience. Equally, Chinese viewers felt disconnected from the film due to a distinct lack of diversity in the production team.

Despite these controversies, Mulan was a streaming success, with insights from 7Data suggesting that around 8.7 million subscribers in the US alone paid to download it via Disney+. With this in mind, it looks like the biggest reason the film failed to claw back its investment at theaters was its March 2020 release date.

Liked this? Click the Like button above. And click the Follow button above for more great stories from loveMONEY

Now discover the highest-grossing Disney movies of all time

The 42 biggest box office bombs of all time, ranked