Disney’s Mulan has racked up dismal advance ticket sales for its opening day in China, making it likely that the live-action remake will bomb at mainland box office. According to China’s largest film ticketing app Maoyan, as of this morning, advance ticket sales for the opening day (September 11) of Mulan amounted to only 2.1 million yuan (US$307,000) after one day of presale. Maoyan estimates the eventual opening-day box office for the film to be 2.3 million yuan. This is a particularly poor figure when compared to the presales takings of two recent hit movies: mainland-made World War II epic The Eight Hundred and time-travelling romance Love You Forever . According to Maoyan, Love You Forever racked up 140 million yuan for advance ticket sales for the opening day. The film took in 250 million yuan its opening day, which coincided with Chinese Valentine’s Day. The Eight Hundred , made 27 million yuan in advance ticket sales and 130 million yuan in total for the opening day (August 21). Disney’s Mulan has been swamped with bad press and poor reviews from Chinese audiences who have watched the movie online overseas, or a pirated version online. The film currently scores 4.7 out of 10 on the rating site Douban. Liu Yifei to Fan Bingbing, five top Chinese actresses in Hollywood films They accuse the film of being bland and mishandling Chinese culture. Calls to boycott the film grew after some scenes were found to have been filmed in Xinjiang , where widespread rights abuses against the region’s Muslim population have been documented. Even before the latest Xinjiang controversy, the hashtag #BoycottMulan has been trending in Hong Kong, Thailand and Taiwan since Mulan ’s lead actress Liu Yifei voiced support for the Hong Kong police on social media in August last year during the city’s anti-government protests. The live-action remake of Disney’s 1998 animation, which follows a woman who disguises herself as a man to join the army in her sickly father’s stead, was a victim of the coronavirus pandemic, missing its premiere in March. Instead, Disney announced the film would be streamed in territories where Disney+ is available, including the United States. The film is also receiving a cinematic release where Disney+ is unavailable and cinemas are open, such as mainland China. Mulan is the latest live-action remake from Disney, which has been adapting its classic animations. With a budget of US$200 million, it is one of Disney’s most expensive live-action remakes and the most expensive film ever directed by a woman, New Zealand director Niki Caro. Disney was betting on it being a big hit in cinemas before the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in months of delays. But all the bad press and dismal sales figures meant Disney’s hope of it being a big hit in China will be dashed. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook