No, that's not a racial slur. Zhang Ziyi will actually play Mulan in an upcoming live-action take on the tale. The story of Hua Mulan, the young woman who joins an all-male army, was first told in the 6th Century poem The Ballad of Mulan before Disney came along, animated it and shoved some songs in.

The new adaptation of the tale has nothing to do with Disney. It's actually an indie-financed flick, a Chinese-English co-production, which will be shot in the English language. There's no information on exact details of John Bickstead's script - the story could in theory be set at any point in China's history.

What we do know is that Mulan will be directed by Jan de Bont, the man who gave us Tomb Raider 2 (banned in China) and that Speed sequel.

Ying Ye, the film's producer, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter: "This is the first independent film directed by Jan de Bont, whose worldwide box office track record is huge". If that box office track record works well here, presumably it's only a matter of time before the inevitable happens: Zyang Ziyi in Mulan 2: Cruise Control.