After a record-breaking run at the box office, a sequel to Disney’s live-action Lilo & Sтιтch is now in development. The movie was first released over Memorial Day weekend and earned the holiday’s biggest opening with an impressive $182.6 million. To date, it has earned over $914 million worldwide.
The new Lilo & Sтιтch largely follows the same story as the 2002 original, tracking the unconventional friendship between Sтιтch (Chris Sanders), a wild alien, and Lilo (Maia Kealoha), a lonely young Hawaiian girl. Though it made some controversial changes to the story, Lilo & Sтιтch has been generally well-received.
To celebrate June 26, a date that coincides with Sтιтch’s experiment number 626, Disney announced that Lilo & Sтιтch 2 is officially in development. The news came with a video of Sтιтch himself exuberantly driving a car around the Disney lot. No further details about the project have been revealed. Check out the post below:
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What This Means For The Lilo & Sтιтch Franchise
Disney Is Going All In, And It Isn’t Surprising
Disney’s decision to make Lilo & Sтιтch 2 isn’t surprising, seeing as the first movie has made nearly $1 billion worldwide. Though it isn’t quite the highest-grossing Hollywood movie of the year just yet – A Minecraft Movie still holds that distinction – its impressive profits have shown this is a story audiences are deeply invested in.
Unlike most potential live-action sequels or spinoffs, Lilo & Sтιтch 2 has entered development only one month after its predecessor’s release, which indicates Disney is eager to get a sequel produced as soon as possible. Though no official timeline has been revealed, if a script comes together by the end of the year, production could take place next year, and the sequel could be released as soon as 2027.
Cruella 2 was also put into development one month after its predecessor’s release, but Mufasa: The Lion King entered development more than a year after the first movie. Aladdin 2 also entered development almost one year after its predecessor.
However, ᴀssuming Disney wants to get this right, Lilo & Sтιтch 2 could instead take a few more years. Nevertheless, the speed of the announcement shows Disney is interested in building upon the Lilo & Sтιтch brand, which already includes a number of animated sequels and spinoffs. Any one of them could provide the story for the upcoming sequel.
Our Take On Lilo & Sтιтch 2
The Sequel Could Fix The First Movie’s Mistakes
Much like most Disney movies, the ending to Lilo & Sтιтch is fairly conclusive, tying up the main characters’ stories in a manner that has sparked a great deal of debate. Still, it is clear that it is only the beginning of a new chapter for Lilo, Sтιтch, and Nani (Sydney Agudong), so there is still plenty of room for more stories to be told.
With several Lilo & Sтιтch changes earning criticism from audiences, the sequel could provide the perfect opportunity to fix them and create a more universally satisfying story. It’s rare for one of Disney’s more traditional live-action remakes to get a sequel, and Lilo & Sтιтch 2 could be an even bigger success for the studio if handled properly.
Source: Disney/Twitter/X
