Updated with video.
Disney is not slowing down with the live-action remakes of its animated movies, as evidenced by the recent announcement that 2016’s Moana is already getting such treatment. But turning our gaze further into the Mouse House's past, 2002’s Lilo & Stitch is also on the remake docket, and the last few months have seen the first casting announcements for the upcoming Disney movie slowly trickle in. Now there’s word that the project has not only cast its Nani, but also brought in one of the stars from the 2019 Aladdin remake.
First up, the role of Lilo’s older sister/legal guardian will be played this time around by Sydney Elizabeth Agudong, per THR. Her credits include NCIS, Infamously in Love, On My Block and West Michigan, and she also recently finished working on an independent movie called At Your Feet. You may also know Agudong’s younger sister, Siena Agudong, who’s been seen in the likes of Star Falls, Alex & Me, Upside-Down Magic and Netflix’s short-lived Resident Evil series. Nani was voiced in the original Lilo & Stitch by Tia Carrere, who shared her hope with CinemaBlend last year that the remake features more songs sung by Hawaiian talent.
Then we have Billy Magnussen, who, along with playing Prince Anders in Aladdin (a character created specifically for that remake), is also known from movies like Game Night, The Many Saints of Newark and No Time to Die, as well as TV shows like The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Tell Me a Story and Made for Love. Unlike Agudong though, Deadline did not share any details about who he will be playing.
With Sydney Agudong and Billy Magnussen coming aboard, we now have four actors attached to the live-action version of Lilo & Stitch. In February, it was reported that Zach Galifianakis was the first actor to be cast, and while I’d initially suspected he’d play Dr. Jumba Jookiba, the alien scientist who created Stitch, it’s since been reported that he’s actually playing Pleakley, the Plorgonarian Galactic Federation agent who accompanies Jookimba to Earth to track down his fugitive creation. Then at the end of March, newcomer Maia Kealoha was selected to play Lilo, the young girl who adopts Stitch after thinking he’s a weird-looking dog. Assuming Galifianakis is indeed playing Pleakley, then that might mean Magnussen is the one who will bring Jookiba to life instead, although needless to say that with these two being aliens, it’s doubtful we’ll see their actual faces anyway.
Behind the scenes, Dean Fleischer Camp of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On fame will direct the new version of Lilo & Stitch, and Chris Kekaniokalani Bright wrote the script. While no release date has been set yet, it’s intended to follow in the footsteps of Lady & the Tramp, Pinocchio and the upcoming Peter Pan & Wendy as an exclusive offering to Disney+ subscribers. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more casting announcements and news on its progress.
