Director Dean Fleischer Camp is receiving tons of praise for his newest film Marcel the Shell With Shoes On. His work helped him nab the job of directing Disney’s live-action adaptation of Lilo & Stitch.
While speaking with TheWrap during press for Marcel, Camp revealed that it is still too early to talk about Lilo & Stitch but says he is a fan of the original. “I’m a huge fan of the original and it means enough to me that I will work so hard to make it to get it right and to do it justice. But it is so early in the process. Like I don’t even know how to answer a lot of those questions.”
When asked if he would consult with the animated Lilo & Stitch director Chris Sanders, Camp said of course. “Oh, of course. The man has to be involved. I don’t know him personally, but obviously, it’s his creation.” There are rumors that Chris Sanders will in fact return to do the voice work for Stitch in the live-action remake, but of course, those have yet to be confirmed by Disney.
The remake, which is expected to be a Disney+ feature, is said to follow the same story as the animated film that followed a young girl’s close encounter with the galaxy’s most wanted extraterrestrial. Lilo is a lonely Hawaiian girl who adopts a small ugly “dog,” whom she names Stitch. Stitch would be the perfect pet if he weren’t, in reality, a genetic experiment who has escaped from an alien planet and crash-landed on Earth. Through her love, faith, and unwavering belief in ohana, the Hawaiian concept of family, Lilo helps unlock Stitch’s heart and gives him the ability to care for someone else.
Attached to produce are Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich of Rideback, who are coming off last year’s billion-dollar hit remake of Aladdin and are also producing the Disney+ Inspector Gadget film, as well as the Haunted Mansion reboot. Studio execs Zoe Kent (Sade) and Louie Provost (Togo) will oversee the production.