Dean Fleischer Camp’s summer blockbuster hit Lilo & Stitch has officially been given the Disney green light for a sequel.
It makes sense for Disney to make the move official today, on June 26—the date co-opted by the company to be an unofficial Stitch holiday inspired by his experiment code from the film, 626. The first film was a blockbuster hit for the studio, which made $920 million globally after being made for a mere $100 million, which is small considering Disney’s usually oversized budgets. The endearing found-family sci-fi adventure delighted critics and even generated its fair share of controversies, and of course Stitch has long been a merchandizing stalwart for the company anyway.
Here’s the official announcement from Disney, via a cute video of Stitch shared on social media today:
Seeing the little blue alien run amok on the Disney lot is a delightful indication that he made those Disney dollars and will be headlining his franchise. We’re excited to see Maia Kealoha reprise her role as Lilo too; the young actress stole our hearts as the film’s spunky lead. As of publication, not many details have been released about Lilo & Stitch 2, other than the detail in the caption on Instagram that the film “is now in development.”
There are so many places Disney’s family franchise can go from here. The original animated film spun off into its own slate of films and multiple television series centered on the additional experiments Jumba made entering Stitch’s orbit after the events of the film. In the remake, a couple of those experiments were teased, including fan favorite and Stitch’s love interest, the pink alien Angel. We’ll have to wait and see if the movies will follow that thread of the film’s main characters going around to help Stitch find his alien family on new adventures, or if the idea will be completely new altogether.
We’ll bring you more on Disney’s plans for Lilo & Stitch 2 as we learn them.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
English (US) ·