Disney’s 'Lilo & Stitch' Remake Moves To Summer 2025 Theatrical Release
The Walt Disney Pictures section of the D23 Disney Entertainment Showcase also gave a first look at the title alien in his CG design
Stitch not bad! Stitch fluffy! Hiiiiii. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard anything from Disney’s hybrid remake of their beloved 2002 animated film Lilo & Stitch, and it turns out it has not been left behind. And as one of Sandler’s Handlings’s first major casting sagas, I’m not leaving it behind either (unless forced by worst-case scenarios). The Walt Disney Pictures section of the D23 Disney Entertainment Showcase Friday evening saw the studio logo glitch, hijacked by the familiar blue alien, revealing his CG design for the first time.
Stitch then pierced through the film’s recognizable logo, which under it revealed that the new Lilo & Stitch has been given a summer 2025 release window. And in a sign of just how much Disney has been spooked by straight-to-Disney+ films, a theatrical release was confirmed, which means after having deliberated between the two options for some time around November 2020, both options would be chosen separately over the journey to its release. While a specific date was not disclosed, Variety had noted the May 23 Memorial Day weekend slot was open, while Entertainment Weekly noted it and the year’s equivalent to this weekend, August 8 was also open. Whatever indecision there may be might have to do with the former currently being the opening weekend for the eighth Mission: Impossible film. While Memorial Day weekend is a regular position for Disney releases, it’s one that saw The Bob’s Burgers Movie absolutely slaughtered by another Tom Cruise sequel, Top Gun: Maverick in 2022.
Lilo & Stitch sees Chris Sanders, who co-directed the original film with Dean DeBlois, reprise his role as the extraterrestrial originally designated Experiment 626 in the franchise’s first American non-dub production since 2006’s Leroy & Stitch, the film which served as the feature-length series finale to Lilo & Stitch: The Series. The original film and its remake follow 6-year-old Lilo Pelekai, played here by Maia Kealoha, and her older sister Nani, played here by Sydney Agudong who live in Hawaii as friction builds between them in a highly-contentious time following the deaths of their parents when they come upon the furry not-dog. Lilo & Stitch: The Series was started by Stitch!: The Movie, while a direct sequel to the original film was released during the series, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch. The only TV and film projects featuring Stitch in the 19 years since have been the Stitch! anime, which primarily ran from 2008-2011 and the Chinese series Stitch and Ai from 2017.
Elsewhere, David Kawena, waiter, fire dancer and surfer and Nani’s love interest will be played by Kaipot Dudoit, Zach Galifianakis is playing Dr. Jumba Jookiba, Stitch’s creator (and creator of the 625 experiments prior), while partner Agent Pleakley will be played by Billy Magnussen. Courtney B. Vance plays Cobra Bubbles, the social worker assigned to Nani and Lilo. Two new characters are original to this remake played by familiar faces. Tia Carrere, the voice of Nani in all voiced appearances, plays Mrs. Kekoa. The ubiquitous Amy Hill, who was the franchise’s voice of shopkeeper Mrs. Hasagawa, has been cast as Tūtū. Apparently, David’s original voice Jason Scott Lee has a role in here as well.
Dean Fleischer Camp, who directedMarcel the Shell with Shoes On, directs the film from a Chris Kekaniokalani Bright script from a previous draft by Mike Van Waes. Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich will produce for Rideback, with Ryan Halprin executive producing. If Lilo & Stitch gets the May 23 slot, that will mean that the two live-action/CG hybrid remakes of Sanders-DeBlois animated films will release three weeks apart, as How to Train Your Dragon, Sanders’s first film after leaving Disney for DreamWorks Animation, has its own remake releasing just three weeks later on June 13. It’s a little wider on the August side.
Sources: Variety, Entertainment Weekly