Disney bumps 'Mulan' over ongoing COVID-19 closures

Liu Yifei as Mulan/© 2019 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.(LOS ANGELES) -- Disney has announced that it has pushed the release date for its live-action remake of the 1998 animated classic Mulan from July 24 to August 21. 

"While the [COVID-19] pandemic has changed our release plans for Mulan and we will continue to be flexible as conditions require, it has not changed our belief in the power of this film and its message of hope and perseverance," Alan Horn, Co-Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, and Alan Bergman, Co-Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios said in a statement. 

COVID-19 cases have been spiking in several states across the country, with Florida reporting another 8,500 new diagnoses in the past 24 hours from Saturday into Sunday; South Carolina, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, California and Georgia also saw record high numbers over the weekend. 

With the uptick in cases comes the public's continued hesitancy to get back to the movies.

Horn's statement continued, "Director Niki Caro and our cast and crew have created a beautiful, epic, and moving film that is everything the cinematic experience should be, and that’s where we believe it belongs – on the world stage and the big screen for audiences around the globe to enjoy together."

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

By George Costantino and Stephen Iervolino
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