Disney is working on a live-action CG hybrid version of Lilo & Stitch, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The remake will be produced by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich of Rideback, who are also producing Disney’s live-action Aladdin. The screenplay will be written by horror writer Mike Van Waes, who wrote The Crooked Man, based on a character from The Conjuring 2, which sounds like a pretty odd choice for a kid’s film about a cute alien who crash lands in Hawaii.
The original 2002 animated film was written and directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders. Lilo & Stitch told the story of a lonely Hawaiian girl named Lilo who lives with her older sister following the death of her parents. She finds and adopts the doglike Stitch who turns out to be a genetic alien experiment. Developed to be a killing machine, Stitch thwarts the efforts of invading alien bounty hunters and eventually learns the real meaning of family. Lilo & Stitch wasn’t the massive hit Disney expected at the time, but it did spawn several direct-to-video sequels and a pretty good TV series.
Lilo & Stitch joins a slew of upcoming Disney live-action remakes which includes Aladdin, Dumbo, The Lion King, Mulan and a live-action version of Lady And The Tramp, which will launch on the new Disney streaming service instead of hitting cinemas.
There is no word yet on whether Lilo & Stitch will be a standard theatrical release or a streamer, but we’ll bring you more as we get it.
Culture Editor Tony Sokol cut his teeth on the wire services and also wrote and produced New York City’s Vampyr Theatre and the rock opera AssassiNation: We Killed JFK. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol.