. Then in 1996 he made stormchasers cool(and made Helen Hunt a box office superstar) with Twister
. He crapped the bed with 1997's misguided Speed 2: Cruise Control
. After that he started to slip away quietly from the Hollywood scene, only producing two films over the next six years. The last thing we saw from him was 2003's Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
. Which was not so hot by any measure. Since then De Bont has been a ghost. No production, no directing. Nothing. Maybe he's looking for the perfect moment to strike and catch fire again. Apparently he's found that opportunity, as he's just signed on to direct a live-action take on the Chinese folktale, Mulan. Yep, the same story that was the basis for the 1998 animated film.
One of my favorite actresses(meaning she's extremely hot), Zhang Ziyi(Memoirs of a Geisha
) will be tacking the title role of a woman who joins the all-male Chinese army. Ziyi doesn't do nearly enough films here in the States, so this is automatically something to look forward to.The film will be in English, with shooting set to begin in just a few weeks.
Total honesty: I never saw the Disney version of Mulan. I think I quit checking out their animated flicks after Hercules. It just seemed like they were cranking out a new one every year and they all sorta felt the same. That won't happen now. De Bont is far from one of my favorite directors, and I think he's benefitted from having some totally unique concepts for his films. When left to more general stories(like The Haunting), he's suffered mightily. However this is a project I'm eager to see round into form.
