It looks like we'll have to wait a little longer to see Disney's first Southeast Asian princess.
The release of Disney's Raya And The Last Dragon, which is set in Southeast Asia and written by Malaysian-born, United States-based screenwriter Adele Lim, has been pushed back to March 2021.
The movie was originally set to premiere in November this year, but has been postponed due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, which has caused cinemas around the world to close their doors.
Raya And The Last Dragon was first announced at Disney's D23 convention in 2018, during which Lim, who co-wrote the smash hit Crazy Rich Asians, took to the stage together with producer Osnat Shurer (who produced Moana) and the film's actors Cassandra Steele and Awkwafina, to announce the project.
The movie is set in the fictional land of Kumandra, which Shurer says is in "a reimagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilisation that venerated the mythical dragons for their power and their wisdom."
Steele voices Raya, a warrior who hopes to save her world by finding the last dragon Sisu (voiced by Awkwafina).
Disney has also postponed the theatrical release of Soul, which would have been Pixar Animation Studios' second feature film of the year, after Onward, which was released just before the global health crisis blew up.
Directed by Pete Docter (Inside Out, Up), Soul features Jamie Foxx voicing am aspiring jazz performer who gets into an accident that causes his soul to be separated from his body.
Raya And The Last Dragon and Soul are the latest major Disney releases that have been delayed due to the global health crisis. The studio is still hopeful of releasing the live-action remake of Mulan in July, while Marvel Studios' superhero blockbusters Black Widow and The Eternals have been postponed to November 7 and February 2021 respectively.
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