'Lilo & Stitch 2' Live-Action Sequel Announced By Disney

Flying on by to the next rollercoaster for the billion-dollar juggernaut

It’s a post-separation preparation edition 6/26 (Day). Disney has officially announced that a sequel to the live-action remake of its 2002 animated classic Lilo & Stitch is in development. The announcement happening on June 26 corresponds to being the day that celebrates the franchise as 626 is Stitch’s designated experiment number, and essentially his original name.

The announcement video features Stitch driving a hot-pink convertible through the Disney lot as he shouts, “Get ready. Here we go!” It is so early in development that none of the director nor cast have been secured. That includes Maia Kealoha as Lilo, the original film’s director Chris Sanders as Stitch, after returning to the role for the first time since Disney Infinity, and Sydney Elizebeth Agudong as Nani. The plot, if they’ve even settled on one, is unknown. Or if they’ve even settled on a plot. Of course, this isn’t the first Lilo & Stitch 2, as the 2005 direct stop video animated sequel subtitled Stitch Has A Glitch saw Stitch malfunctioning due to his destabilizing molecular structure. Lilo is preparing for a hula competition to honor her late mother and becomes greatly concerned about Stitch’s erratic behavior and the chaos it causes, so much so that she thinks it’s him reverting to the destructive being he was before he met her. With no plot revealed, it leaves audiences wondering whether the sequel to the live action film will adapt its storyline after including elements from it in itself.

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The Dean Fleischer-Camp-directed film was originally being made for Disney+ before a strategy shift gave it a Memorial Day weekend release. While it is on its way to a billion-dollar box office, currently sitting at $916 million on a $392 million domestic, $524.3 million international split, there’s just as much a split on the audience reception thanks to its controversial ending. While the 2002 original ends with Nani keeping custody of Lilo, Nani’s been offered a full scholarship to UC San Diego, so she can pursue her dream of studying marine biology, and ultimately decides to take it so she can be in a better position of taking care of Lilo later. Until then, Lilo is put in the care of their neighbor Tūtū, who is David’s grandmother. Lilo encourages her to go, believing she’s spent so long taking care of others that her self-care was neglected the whole way. Even with the alien technology that allows Nani to visit any time, many understandably believe that this still undercuts the franchise’s central theme of ohana, that “family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” There’s also the whole part of leaving behind Hawai’I for the States making for some assimilation implications others weren’t fond of.

Lilo & Stitch also stars Courtney B. Vance as Cobra Bubbles, Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen as Jumba Jookiba and Agent Wendy Pleakley, Kaipo Dudoit as David Kawena, Nani’s love interest Tia Carrere, the original Nani as new character Mrs. Kekoa, a social worker, Amy Hill, the voice of Mrs. Hasagawa in the original film and subsequent productions, as Tūtū, and Hannah Waddingham as the Grand Councilwoman. Whether we will see David’s original voice Jason Scott Lee as the lūʻau manager feels least answerable out of everyone. Chris Kekaniokalani Bright wrote the script from a previous draft by Mike Van Waes. It is produced by Jonathan Eirich, p.g.a. and Dan Lin, both from Rideback, with Tom Peitzman, Ryan Halprin, Louie Provost and Thomas Schumacher as executive producers.

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Source: Variety