Summary
- Lilo & Stitch's live-action trailer received over 14 million views, indicating high audience interest.
- Disney hit pause on future live-action remakes due to Snow White's box office flop and poor critical reception.
- The success of Lilo & Stitch at the box office could potentially change Disney's stance on future live-action projects.
Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch will be released on May 23, 2025, and will give audiences the opportunity to experience Ohana in a whole new way. The trailer and teaser footage for the live-action adaptation have all been well received, with the latest receiving over 14 million views on YouTube throughout the past month.
Disney's live-action remakes of their classic animated films have been hit and miss to date, but Lilo & Stitch appears to have a balance that is spot-on with what audiences want to see from this movie. That's humor and heart combined, which is what made the 2002 animated film such a hit. However, after Disney made a recent decision at a corporate level, Lilo & Stitch might end up having an even bigger impact than people realize.
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What Decision Has Disney Made?
This Is Due To Snow White Being A Flop
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has decided to hit pause on some upcoming live-action adaptations, with the company deciding to rethink its strategy regarding these movies and whether or not it wants to continue making them. Disney has produced a lot of live-action remakes at this point with varying levels of financial and critical success. However, the studios have now reached the point where they're unsure if they should continue down that path.
This is largely down to the recent release of Snow White. The movie went through a lot of controversy during the production, and while it had mixed reviews upon release, crucially, it performed terribly at the box office. Snow White grossed $194 million globally on a production budget of $240-270 million, which was short of Disney's expectations as it only reached half of its projected opening numbers. The finances were massively below expectations, and that's something that even a juggernaut like Disney is unable to ignore. While that could've been down to just one individual movie, several other live-action remakes have also been met with poor reviews, leading to interest being generally down for future projects like this.
Lilo & Stitch Being A Hit Might Alter Disney's Thought Process
There Is An Audience For These Remakes
That is where Lilo & Stitch could come in and save the day for Disney, as this live-action adaptation is on course to perform very well for the company. Early box office projections are predicting that this film will gross over $100 million on its opening weekend alone, which would instantly give it a brilliant start. Lilo & Stitch has a smaller budget than Snow White. Therefore, the potential for it to thrive at the box office is high. A big win is what Disney needs right now, particularly for a live-action adaptation, as Disney needs to see that they can still turn a significant profit. If Lilo & Stitch does that, then there's a chance that Disney will reverse the decision they have made regarding future live-action movies.
Lilo & Stitch has always been a popular Disney movie, with Stitch, in particular, becoming somewhat of a mascot for the company. His presence is massive within Disney's popular theme parks, and the feedback surrounding the live-action adaptation proves that there is a genuine interest in this movie. While some of the remakes aren't ones people are interested in, that doesn't appear to be the case here as audiences are actively looking forward to the movie, with Disney seemingly having captured the spirit of the animation.
Disney Had Other Live Action Movies Planned
Fans Were Particularly Excited About Tangled
The decision to hit pause on future live-action adaptations wasn't just something random that had no impact either, as Disney was actively working on some projects. A Tangled remake was expected to take place, with Florence Pugh and pop star Sabrina Carpenter being linked with the role of Rapunzel. That's a huge animated film that audiences loved, and it would work very well in a live-action format. Meanwhile, a third Maleficent film was also supposed to be coming in the future, which makes sense given the popularity of the first two films led by Angelina Jolie. Other films could also have been in the pipeline within Disney's creative team, but at the moment, everything is on hold despite people's potential and general interest in them.
There will be at least one more live-action remake in the future, as Moana will be getting this treatment. That movie, which will star Dwayne Johnson, has already been shot, and considering the popularity of the two animated films within this franchise, that's another live-action that has the potential to be a huge box office hit. The potential success of Moana combined with what Lilo & Stitch is projected to do might end up saving a lot of the projects that Disney was hoping to create, which will likely make a lot of people happy.
Lilo & Stitch
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- May 23, 2025
- Runtime
- 108 minutes
Cast
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Maia KealohaLilo -
Sydney AgudongNani
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Chris SandersStitch (voice) -
Zach GalifianakisJumba
