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Disney has been on a proper tear with the live-action remakes/re-imaginings of its classic animated movies for almost a decade now, although you’re welcome to stretch that to over a decade if you count 2010’s Alice in Wonderland. Either way, the Mouse House shows no signs of slowing down on this front anytime soon, and one of the next live-action offerings from this corner of the Disney media empire is Lilo & Stitch. The original Lilo & Stitch recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and it’s been revealed that the remake has gained new steam with a big behind-the-scenes hire.
Fresh off the release of his new movie Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, director Dean Fleischer-Camp has been tapped to helm the live-action version of Lilo & Stitch, per Deadline. This will mark Fleischer-Camp’s first movie for a major studio, with the live-action/animated hybrid Marcel hailing from A24. Marcel has been met with critical acclaim, including CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg giving it a perfect 5 out of 5 stars in his review.
The live-action Lilo & Stitch was unveiled to the public back in October 2018, with producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, who were behind 2019’s Aladdin, being brought aboard. Then in November 2020, it was reported that John M. Chu was being lined up to direct the feature. However, with Chu now not only putting together the two-part film adaptation of Wicked together, but also still being attached to make the Crazy Rich Asians sequels, it looked as though he wasn’t involved with Lilo & Stitch anymore. Sure enough, Dean Fleischer-Camp has now inherited the directorial reins.
It’d been a while since we’d gotten a major update on Lilo & Stitch, so it’s good to know the project is making progress. That said, there’s still a long way to go until it starts shooting. For one thing, Chris Kekaniokalani Bright is in negotiations to write the script, so words haven’t even been put to paper yet! There’s also the matter of casting, although when it comes to selecting the actress to play Lilo, that could potentially be done even before a script is turned in. It also still hasn’t been cleared up if the live-action Lilo & Stitch will get a theatrical release or go straight to Disney+ subscribers.
In any case, at least this new take on Lilo & Stitch is one step closer to becoming a reality. Unlike recent Disney releases like Dumbo and Cruella, which took major creative liberties with their stories, Lilo & Stitch is expected to be a more straightforward remake, with the young Lilo befriending a “dog” she names Stitch, who is actually a destructive alien creature dubbed by his creator as Experiment 626. Along with earning a lot of positive reviews, the original Lilo & Stitch, which came out just a few years after the Disney Renaissance ended, made $273.1 million worldwide.
Needless to say that CinemaBlend will continue passing along updates concerning the live-action Lilo & Stitch. As far as Disney’s remaining 2022 movie releases go, some of the flicks to look forward to in the coming months include the live-action Pinocchio remake, Hocus Pocus 2, Strange World and Disenchanted.