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Lilo & Stitch (2025 film)

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Lilo & Stitch
Directed byDean Fleischer Camp
Written byChris Kekaniokalani Bright
Based on
Lilo & Stitch
by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyNigel Bluck
Production
companies
Distributed byDisney+
Release date
2024
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Lilo & Stitch is an upcoming American science fiction film that will be a live-action adaptation of the 2002 animated film of the same name. The film will be directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright, and produced by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich. It will star Maia Kealoha as Lilo Pelekai and Lilo & Stitch creator Chris Sanders reprising his voice role as Stitch from the original animated continuity. Zach Galifianakis, Sydney Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Kaipo Dudoit, Courtney B. Vance, and original continuity cast members Tia Carrere and Amy Hill will also star.

Premise

The film tells the story of "the bond formed between a lonely human girl named Lilo and a dog-like alien named Stitch, who is engineered to be a force of destruction. Pursuing aliens, social workers, and the idea of the bond of family figure into the proceedings."[1]

Cast

  • Maia Kealoha as Lilo Pelekai, a 6 to 8-year-old Native Hawaiian girl "who loves hula, surfing, and wildlife, with a special affinity for all things 'gross.'"[2] She is very imaginative yet rebellious, which gets her into trouble often and ostracizes her from her classmates, who consider her a "weirdie". Unlike the original film, which portrayed her and Nani's parents having died relatively recently by that film's events, their parents will have been dead for "a few years" by the remake's events, with Lilo hiding her grief through "relentless, fun loving optimism".[3][4]
  • Chris Sanders as the voice of Stitch, a blue koala-like illegal genetic experiment known as Experiment 626, who is adopted by Lilo. He is described as "[u]nruly, impulsive, and freakishly strong; he’s a furry, ugly-cute wrecking ball seemingly bent on destroying everything in his path."[4] Sanders reprises the role he originated in the original continuity.
  • Zach Galifianakis as the voice of Dr. Jumba Jookiba,[5] the Kweltikwan mad scientist creator of Stitch.
  • Billy Magnussen as the voice of Agent Pleakley,[6] a Plorgonarian agent of the United Galactic Federation and their "expert" on Earth. He is sent down to the planet to prevent Jumba from harming any of Earth's life forms while hunting 626.
  • Sydney Agudong as Nani Pelekai, the 18-year-old sister of Lilo and her legal guardian. She is described as "intelligent, overachieving, athletic, Type A" and a "straight-A student" who has been feeling the increasing pressures of having to take care Lilo while maintaining her school grades and her job, causing issues with her and Lilo's social worker, with child protective services threatening to separate the Pelekai sisters and put Lilo into foster care.[7]
  • Kaipo Dudoit as David Kawena, an 18-year-old Native Hawaiian community college student and surfer who is kind to Nani.[4] He performs the "fire knife dance" at the hotel where he and Nani work at.[4][8]
  • Tia Carrere as Mrs. Kekoa,[9] a 55-year-old AANHPI social worker who is "a practical, by-the-book kind and patient woman who checks in regularly with Nani", but is nevertheless aware of Nani's struggles to keep up with her duties.[4][2] Carrere was originally the voice of Nani in the animated continuity.
  • Courtney B. Vance as Cobra Bubbles, a former CIA agent who is assigned as a social worker for Lilo.[10]
  • Amy Hill as Tūtū,[9] a Native Hawaiian in her 70s who is the long-time neighbor of the Pelekais and the grandmother of David Kawena.[2] She is described as "a warm, quick-witted woman who speaks with a local Pidgin accent."[4] She is original to this film, as none of David's family members appeared or were referred to during the original animated continuity, nor did Lilo and Nani have close neighbors during said continuity.[4] Hill previously voiced Mrs. Hasagawa in the original continuity.

Production

Development

On October 3, 2018, it was announced that Walt Disney Pictures was developing a live-action/computer-generated animation hybrid film adaptation of their 2002 animated film Lilo & Stitch. The film was set to be adapted by Mike Van Waes, produced by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, and co-produced by Ryan Halprin.[1][11] On October 24, 2018, Van Waes revealed that he began to work on the remake's script.[12] On November 13, 2020, Jon M. Chu entered talks to direct the film, while Van Waes was reported to have left the project, with the studio looking for a new screenwriter to re-write Van Waes's script,[13][14] though Chu would ultimately not direct the film due to other obligations. On July 14, 2022, Deadline Hollywood reported that Dean Fleischer Camp was chosen to direct instead, while Chris Kekaniokalani Bright was in talks to rewrite the script;[15] Bright was fully confirmed to be the writer in February 2023.[5] The day after Deadline Hollywood's announcement of Fleischer Camp and Bright's involvement, Van Waes quote tweeted from Deadline Hollywood's tweet on their article, welcoming Fleischer Camp and Bright to the film's production, possibly indicating that he is still involved with the film.[16]

Casting

While it was speculated that the original film's co-writer/co-director, Chris Sanders, would reprise his role as the voice of Stitch in the remake, Sanders claimed in a September 2022 interview that Disney had not yet approached him on reprising the role, although he stated that he is always open to returning to voice his creation.[17]

It was reported in November 2022 that a casting call has been issued for the film.[4] The initial casting call was later tweeted on November 22 by the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment.[2]

In February 2023, Zach Galifianakis joined the cast in a then-unspecified role. While TheWrap reported at the time that he would voice Pleakley,[5] The Hollywood Reporter contradicted them in April when they reported that Galifianakis was instead voicing Dr. Jumba Jookiba.[9] In late March, Maia Kealoha was cast in the lead role as Lilo Pelekai.[3]

In April 2023, Billy Magnussen was cast as the voice of Agent Pleakley,[9] and Sydney Agudong was cast as Nani Pelekai.[7] Later that month, Kahiau Machado was cast as David Kawena,[8] while Courtney B. Vance was cast as Cobra Bubbles, who fans initially believed was cut from the film's cast of characters.[10] Tia Carrere and Amy Hill, who both voiced roles in the original film and its original sequel material such as Lilo & Stitch: The Series, were cast in new roles, with Sanders in final negotiations to reprise his voice role as Stitch.[9]

The castings of Agudong and Machado were met with controversy on social media shortly after their announcements, with accusations of colorism and whitewashing towards Disney and the film's casting crew, as the two actors are of lighter skin tones than their characters' original animated counterparts.[18][19] Sydney Agudong—the older sister of actress Siena Agudong—is a mixed-race woman born and raised on Kaua'i (where the franchise is mainly set) to a Caucasian mother and a father who is half-Filipino and half-Native Hawaiian.[18][20][19] Agudong received comments on her Instagram account attacking her for accepting the role.[21] After internet users uncovered a Spotify profile owned by Machado showing that he previously used a racial slur as part of a playlist title, he was recast with Kaipo Dudoit.[9][22]

Filming

Principal photography was slated to start in Oahu, Hawaii on March 13, 2023,[23] and finish on June 16.[24] However, the first day of filming was later delayed to April 17.[25]

On April 16, 2023, a fire broke out in a trailer within the base camp of the film's set in Haleiwa, causing approximately $200,000 in damage.[25][26][27] The trailer contained costumes that would have been used for the first three weeks of filming.[28] The fire started before 11 PM HST and was extinguished by 1 AM the following day.[25][26][27] There were no reported injuries, although the beginning of filming was further delayed. The Honolulu Police Department classified it as a first-degree arson and opened an investigation in response.[25][26][27][28]

Release

In November 2020, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter said that Disney hasn't determined whether the film will be released theatrically or through Disney+.[13][14] It remained unclear until November 2022 when it was confirmed via a casting call that the film will be produced for a direct-to-streaming Disney+ release.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Kit, Borys (October 3, 2018). "'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Remake in the Works at Disney (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e CAPE—Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment [@CAPEUSA] (November 22, 2022). "OPEN CASTING CALL! @DisneyStudios is searching for actors for the upcoming Lilo & Stitch live-action film for several characters of #NativeHawaiian descent. Actors of Native Hawaiian, Polynesian, Māori descent are encouraged to apply. To apply: [email address redacted for Wikipedia]" (Tweet). Retrieved November 23, 2022 – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b Verhoeven, Beatrice (March 31, 2023). "Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch' Movie Finds Its Lilo". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Williams, Caleb (November 12, 2022). "Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Movie Lead Character Breakdowns Go Out (EXCLUSIVE)". Knight Edge Media. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Taylor, Drew (February 17, 2023). "Zach Galifianakis Cast in Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch'". TheWrap. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  6. ^ Grobar, Matt (April 12, 2023). "Lilo & Stitch Live-Action Disney Movie Adds Billy Magnussen". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Verhoeven, Beatrice (April 14, 2023). "Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch' Finds Its Nani, Lilo's Sister (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Verhoeven, Beatrice (April 17, 2023). "Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch' Casts Nani's Love Interest David (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Verhoeven, Beatrice (April 21, 2023). "Chris Sanders in Final Talks to Return as Voice of Stitch in Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Cordero, Rosy (April 19, 2023). "Courtney B. Vance Boards Disney's Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch'". Deadline. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  11. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (October 3, 2018). "Disney Loading 'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Adaptation". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  12. ^ Van Waes, Mike [@mikevanwaes] (October 24, 2018). "Real but surreal. 🏝 #liloandstitch" (Tweet). Retrieved October 24, 2018 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ a b Rubin, Rebecca (November 13, 2020). "Jon M. Chu to Direct 'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Movie". Variety. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  14. ^ a b Kit, Borys (November 13, 2020). "Jon M. Chu in Talks to Direct Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch' Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  15. ^ Kroll, Justin (July 14, 2022). "'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Pic At Disney Taps 'Marcel The Shell With Shoes On's Dean Fleischer Camp To Direct". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  16. ^ Van Waes, Mike [@mikevanwaes] (July 15, 2022). "Welcome to the ohana @DFLEISCHERCAMP and Chris K.T. Bright! 🤩" (Tweet). Retrieved July 17, 2022 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ Weiss, Josh (September 13, 2022). "Original Co-Director of 'Lilo & Stitch' Has Thoughts About the Live-Action Remake". SYFY Wire. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  18. ^ a b Frank, Allegra (April 20, 2023). "Disney Keeps Bungling the 'Lilo and Stitch' Remake Casting". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  19. ^ a b Villegas, Pauline (April 15, 2023). "The 'Lilo & Stitch' live-action casting sparks an online debate about colorism in Hollywood". Insider. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  20. ^ Segarra, Edward (April 20, 2023). "'Lilo & Stich' fans slam casting of light-skinned Hawaiian actress in live-action remake". USA Today. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  21. ^ Ke, Bryan (April 19, 2023). "'Lilo and Stitch' live-action remake accused of whitewashing Nani Pelekai". NextShark. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  22. ^ Shrishty (April 21, 2023). "'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Remake Recasts David Following Controversy". Collider. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  23. ^ Santens, Tim (March 14, 2023). "Live-Action "Lilo & Stitch" Begins Filming in O'ahu in March". Tales From The Collection. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  24. ^ "'Lilo & Stitch' Live-Action Disney Movie Gets Filming Schedule [Exclusive]". Midgard Times. February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  25. ^ a b c d HNN Staff (April 17, 2023). "Arson investigation underway after fire on set of major film production on Oahu's North Shore". Hawaii News Now. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  26. ^ a b c HPR News Staff (April 18, 2023). "Suspected arson investigation on live-action 'Lilo & Stitch' film set". Hawaii Public Radio. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  27. ^ a b c Bernardo, Rosemarie (April 18, 2023). "Arson suspected in Disney film trailer blaze". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved April 19, 2023 – via Yahoo! News.
  28. ^ a b Daysog, Rick (April 18, 2023). "'Reeks of organized crime': 'Lilo and Stitch' set fire reopens old industry wounds". Hawaii News Now. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
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