Upcoming ‘Lilo and Stitch’ live-action casts Maia Kealoha as Lilo

Disney’s upcoming ‘Lilo and Stitch’ live-action has just cast the role of Lilo. Maia Kealoha will be making her movie debut in the role of the titular character, who becomes friends with Stitch, a genetically engineered dog-like creature.

Not much is known about the live-action movie, which is based on the original cartoon movie of the same name released in 2002. The live-action adaptation was originally slated to begin filming in 2020, but delays, including the COVID-19 pandemic, forced development on the project to be pushed back.

And while this will be Kealoha’s first movie role, the young actress has previously participated in multiple Little Miss Kona Coffee pageants in Hawaii.

Another live-action endeavor from Disney

Disney has been releasing live-action remakes of its beloved children’s classic movies for years, including ‘The Lion King’, ‘Mulan’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘The Jungle Book’, and the upcoming live-action ‘The Little Mermaid’ starring Halle Bailey set to be released this year on May 26.

Other upcoming live-action releases include ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’, a fantasy adventure movie directed by David Lowery to be released on Disney+ on April 28. ‘The Aristocats’ live-action is another project that appears to be going ahead. The cat-centric movie has just signed musician Questlove onto the project, taking the helm as director.

Disney may be hoping to recover from underperforming live-action adaptations that have received poor reviews. This was the case for 2022′s ‘Pinocchio’ directed by Robert Zemeckis, which went on to receive multiple Golden Raspberry awards.

Perhaps one of the most well-known live-action adaptations is the ‘Maleficent’ movie and sequel, starring Angelina Jolie in the titular role. Instead of being a live-action adaptation of the original movie, it’s based on, the 1959 ‘Sleeping Beauty’, the movie focuses on Maleficent and how she became the iconic villain she’s known as.’

‘Alice in Wonderland’ directed by Tim Burton in 2010 and the sequel ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’, directed by James Bobin, are based on the original cartoon movie ‘Alice in Wonderland’, and the Burton directed movie began the trend for Disney to remake its classic movies with live actors.

Both movies met with negative reviews but were praised for their visuals and overall aesthetic.

When will the live-action ‘Lilo & Stitch’ be released?

With development already delayed three years, there is no confirmed release date for the upcoming live-action movie. But it is set to premiere on Disney+.