Lilo & Stitch’s live-action ohana is coming together! After it was previously announced last month that Zach Galifianakis was the first actor to be cast in the upcoming Disney movie, Lilo has now been cast as well. Newcomer Maia Kealoha will reportedly lead the Hawaii-set remake of the 2002 beloved animated movie from the House of Mouse.
The Lilo & Stitch casting news was first reported by Knight Edge Media and then confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter. The movie is set to be helmed by Marcel the Shell With Shoes On filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp from a script by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright
The live-action adaptation will mark the young Hawaiian actress’ first acting credit, though she recently became 2023 Mini Miss Kona Coffee, which takes place in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. She already looks like the live-action Lilo in this recent photo from the competition’s Instagram:
Ahead of the live-action Lilo & Stitch movie expected to be released in May 2024, it looks like the production is quietly rounding up its cast. In terms of Lilo, the movie is very much sticking with the roots of the original 2002 movie regarding the character’s age. What remains to be seen is how her alien best friend will be adapted out of the 2D animation world he was born into.
We don’t know for sure who Galifianakis is playing right now, but The Wrap reported last month that he’ll be playing the role of Pleakley, an eccentric one-eyed alien who is tasked with capturing the mischievous Stitch and taking him back to prison alongside his creator Jumba. We’ll also be curious to see how the production decides to adapt the alien creatures as well. Oh, and who’s going to play Lilo’s bigger sister, Nani?
Lilo was originally voiced by Daveigh Chase, who did not echo the Hawaiian roots of her iconic character. A young Dakota Fanning additionally took on the role for the direct-to-video sequel. Nani was played by Tia Carrere, who was born and raised in Hawaii, and assisted in making the original movie authentic for the Hawaiian people, as she shared with CinemaBlend for the movie’s 20th anniversary last year.
For the time being, it doesn’t sound like the movie’s original creators, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, are involved in this new iteration. Sanders is the original voice of Stitch, and it remains to be seen if he’ll return to voice the alien he helped create.
While we wait for more details about the live-action Lilo & Stitch, the next live-action Disney movie to get ready for is The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey as an updated version of Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. It opens in theaters on May 26, about a year before we meet the new Lilo.