According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney is set to release a live-action/CG remake of the animated film Lilo & Stitch. Ryan Halprin, Jonathan Eirich, and Dan Lin will produce the film with Mike Van Waes writing the script. If Eirich and Lin sound familiar it is because they already working the live-action remake of another Disney film, Aladdin.
Set in Hawaii, the film centers on the growing friendship between six-year-old Lilo and an alien mistaken for a dog named Stitch. While each has their own external and internal conflicts, the two overcome their own struggles with the help of each other.
Along with Aladdin and Lilo & Stitch, Disney is also set to create remakes for its other animated films such as The Lion King and Dumbo. The studio has already made live-action remakes for its other films like Pete’s Dragon, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, and Cinderella.
It is still unclear if the film will be given a theatrical release or if it will be available through Disney’s upcoming streaming service in 2019.
Barring whitewashing of the characters, the film should open the opportunity for more Asian American Pacific Islanders in key roles. According to the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, Lin’s former company, Lin’s Pictures, has produced films grossing over $2 billion at the world box office. Among those films is The Lego Movie and Sherlock Holmes.
“MANAA (Media Action Network for Asian Americans) gave the creators a Media Achievement Award, said Guy Aoki, founder of MANAA. “High hopes for this one. That it won’t just be on digital platforms but actually be a motion picture.”
Lin also served on the Board of Directors of the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment; Pepperdine University’s Center for Entertainment, Media, and Culture; and the I Dream of Fish Foundation.
He immigrated to the United States from Taiwan at the age of 5.
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