Robert Zemeckis’ live-action adaptation of the classic animated movie Pinocchio is carved and ready for release, Guy Ritchie is returning for more Disney dollars to direct their live-action Hercules, and now the mouse-house have turned their attention towards 2002’s wonderful oddity Lilo & Stitch, hiring Marcel the Shell With Shoes On‘s Dean Fleischer Camp to direct.
Deadline reports that following the success of Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, which we called “crowd-pleasing” and “surprisingly poignant “in our ★★★★ review, Disney have acted fast to snap up Fleischer Camp for their live-action Lilo & Stitch adaptation.
It’s unclear whether the film, which was originally pitched as a Disney+ offering, will stick to the same streaming release strategy, a la Pinocchio, or whether it might go theatrical in the hope it could cash in like Aladdin ($1 Billion), The Lion King ($1.6 Billion), and Beauty and the Beast ($1.2 Billion) have at the global box-office.
The original 2002 animated film grossed $273 million at the worldwide box-office, and revolves two eccentric friends: a six-year-old Hawaiian girl named Lilo Pelekai and a blue extra-terrestrial animal-like creature called Experiment 626, nicknamed Stitch. Lilo is raised by her 19-year-old sister Nani after their parents died in a car accident, and their lives are changed when Stitch crashes down in Hawaii and begins to wreak havoc on the small town community.
Let us know if you’re a fan of Lilo & Stitch and whether you’re happy to see Disney yet again mining their back-catalogue for your subscription fees or ticket stubs by heading to our social channels @FlickeringMyth…