‘Lilo & Stitch’ live-action remake confirmed by Disney

Over the last few years, Disney has been taking our favorite childhood animated films and remaking them into live-action movies. From Jungle Book to Beauty And The Beast, we’ve seen these movies reinvented with varying levels of success.

While we’re waiting for the live-action Dumbo, making its way to theaters March 29, 2019, Disney has been eyeing another film: Lilo & Stitch.

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The original film was written and directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, known for the How To Train Your Dragon series. The film touches on heavy topics such as the loss of Lilo’s parents and her sister’s struggle with social workers. All while incorporating the unlikely friendship between Lilo and Experiment 626—fondly referred to as Stitch.

Now, according to Hollywood Reporter, fans of the movie might get a chance to see a live-action Stitch, kind of.

The film will be a blend of live action and CG, the same production technique used in the upcoming Aladdin movie. Mike Van Waes, known for his Conjuring spinoff The Crooked Man, will write the script. Lilo & Stitch will also share Aladdin producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich of production company Rideback, formally known as Lin Pictures.

Aladdin faced criticism at the beginning of this year for choosing to “make up” white actors to look Middle Eastern. Disney told Deadline that the extras and crew were “made up to blend in” only in rare instances.

“Diversity of our cast and background performers was a requirement, and only in a handful of instances when it was a matter of specialty skills, safety and control (special effects rigs, stunt performers and handling of animals) were crew made up to blend in,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement.

This response prompted a response from actor Kal Penn, who told Disney that it needed to “do better.”

“I love Disney so much. But when a PR person says they decided to put 100 people in Brownface in 2018 because not enough of us are qualified, that’s bs, someone just didn’t want to spend the $ to do it right. Let’s all expect more and do better this year.”

Aladdin will be released May 24, 2019. Other animated Disney films to get live-action remakes include Cinderella and Pete’s Dragon, while The Lion King has already been slated for a remake as well.