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The planned live-action remake of the well-loved Disney classic, "Mulan," is not expected to have the iconic songs included in the film, according to an announcement of the film's director Niki Caro.

Niki Caro describes the new film "Mulan" as a martial arts extravaganza. "Mulan" is only in the pre-production stages, which is why Caro cannot certainly give out any details yet, the Entertainment Weekly reported.

They have scouted for locations in China and already have a young Mulan who they will train in mixed martial arts to prepare for the role. She also said that the budget given to her allows her to fully explore the material for "Mulan."

The rich material that the story of Hua Mulan brings to the table is one of the reasons why it is not expected to be a musical, The Independent cited. If they want to explore Mulan's character more, they cannot be tied up with the original material whose storyline hinged on the timing of every song.

Disney is now on a roll of producing live-action movies of their animated classics. This wave was started by the "Alice in Wonderland" retelling and earned $1 billion.

They have also remade "Cinderella", "The Jungle Book" and most recently, "Beauty and the Beast" which earned $170 million on the opening weekend in the US and a whopping $350 million globally. The studio has even delved into exploring the villain's story just like in "Maleficent."

The production now includes Bill Kong, the executive producer of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Alex Graves of "Game of Thrones" was the original choice as director before Caro came aboard. They are joined by "Jurassic World" writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver who will rewrite the original material.

The live-action retelling is now slated to be released on Nov. 2, 2018. They have now fast-tracked a global casting search for a Chinese actress to play the titular character.