Talk:Mulan (2020 film)/@comment-38041270-20191120172630/@comment-4991841-20191222040922

I see this narrative pushed a lot. Disney isn't running out of ideas, simply they are in the business of making money and these live action remakes of their animated classics reliably post big numbers at the box office. Two of the (I'd say) three and half remakes this year joined the billion dollar club. Those remakes being Dumbo, The Lion King, Aladdin, and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (the half as its a sequel.)  Aladdin and The Lion King were box office juggernauts. Meanwhile, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil only exists because the first one out preformed its original expectation, though I'll be the first to admit that the sequel wasn't successful. Dumbo on the other hand was pretty much DOA. My guess being Dumbo is simply not venerated within the public consciousness as others.

Disney's business model is "tent pole" films. They want big four-quadrant movies that are and event to see. With the launch of Disney Plus you'll see smaller more "risky" remakes be relegated to the streaming service. They did this with Lady & the Tramp and Dumbo for all intents and purposes should have been funneled there too. But your popular beloved movies, like Mulan, like The Little Mermaid will be theatrical releases. And they''ll continue to be theatrical releases until the box office trends shift in a different direction.

Hollywood historically, is not a risk taking business. Why would Disney gamble on original, unproven content when their current model is working in spades? Of course this is mostly speaks to the regular live action division of the company, as the animated branches, and marvel are firing on all cyliders.

TL;DR Version: It has nothing to do with not having ideas and everything to do with making money for the company.