Lilo & Stitch: Disney’s live-action remake finds its Lilo in newcomer Maia Kealoha

Last Updated on April 4, 2023

It’s been revealed that newcomer Maia Kealoha will play Lilo in Disney’s upcoming live-action Lilo & Stitch remake. The news was first reported by Knight Edge Media and later confirmed by THR.

Maia Kealoha has no acting credits to her name, so landing a leading role in a major Disney movie will make for quite the debut. The original Lilo & Stitch film told the story of a young Hawaiian girl named Lilo and an extraterrestrial dog-like creature known as Experiment 626. He’s soon given the name Stitch after being adopted by Lilo. Although Stitch is a force of chaos and destruction, he eventually develops a close bond with Lilo. Together, the pair avoid the pursuing aliens who have been dispatched to capture him. The film spawned several direct-to-video sequels as well as a couple of TV shows.

When Disney first announced the Lilo & Stitch remake four years ago, they had initially been talking with Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) to direct. But it was announced last summer that Dean Fleischer Camp, the filmmaker behind Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, had signed on to direct. “I’m hugely [excited],” Camp said when the news was first announced. “I did not know they were going to announce that today. It’s great—now I don’t have to keep it a secret anymore.“ The live-action remake is intended to be a major release on Disney+. Chris Kekaniokalani Bright penned the script from a previous draft by Mike Van Waes.

The next live-action Disney movie based on their animated classics will be David Lowery’s Peter Pan & Wendy, which will debut on Disney+ on April 28th. Following that will be Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid, which stars Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid alongside Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, and Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle. The Little Mermaid will hit theaters on May 26th.