The film trailer, directed by New Zealand's Niki Caro, features an epic battle scene in the Ahuriri Valley, but whether it would have flow-on effects for tourism operators had yet to be seen, Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said.
"It's really difficult to know quite how that's going to go.
"The next big challenge is just how successful the movie is, what sort of following it has, and where that following comes from. Being a Chinese folk story, there's definitely very good potential for - if it's very successful - those people who really enjoy it to potentially look out the sites where it was filmed," he said.
At the time, Waitaki District Council chief executive Fergus Power said the film company estimated spending in the area would be about $13 million, "with additional wider flow-on financial impacts".
Filming was understood to have occurred in China as well as, at least, the Ahuriri Valley, Omarama's Clay Cliffs and Poolburn.
Chinese-American Yifei Liu stars as Mulan in the adaptation of the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, who breaks away from her expected role as a wife to fight in her ailing father's place.
Mulan is expected in theatres in March 2020.
