Stitch is having quite the summer. The live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch is closing in on a billion dollars at the international box office, and it also just became the highest grossing movie of the year to date, surpassing Warner Brothers’s A Minecraft Movie. Last week, to celebrate “626” day — a nod to Stitch’s government name “Experiment 626” — Disney announced that they’re developing a live-action sequel after the first film’s incredible success. The little alien who just wanted a family is currently big business, and fans are turning back to the franchise in a big way.
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The news of another live-action Lilo & Stitch film seems to have catapulted the original film’s followup, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, to the top of Disney+’s streaming charts, according to FlixPatrol. Currently, Stitch Has a Glitch is the fourth most-watched movie in the world on the platform. The original animated Lilo & Stitch has enjoyed a nice bump in numbers too from the success of its live-action adaptation, as it’s currently the eighth most-watched film on the platform.
Released in 2005, three years after the first animated film, Stitch Has a Glitch follows the duo’s struggle to correct a malfunction in the now-beloved blue alien’s molecular structure which occurred during his arrest in the previous movie. The glitch reverts Stitch to his original programming to attack Earth and the ones he loves. Lilo struggles to balance helping her friend with rehearsing for an upcoming hula competition that has a special significance for her, yet if Dr. Jumba can’t fix Stitch’s molecular glitch, he’ll die. While the voice of Lilo was recast with a young Dakota Fanning in the sequel, many of the main cast reprised their voice roles including Chris Sanders as Stitch, Tia Carrere as Lilo’s older sister Nani, and David Ogden Stiers as Dr. Jumba. Unlike its predecessor, Stitch Has a Glitch didn’t have a theatrical run, and was released on home video twenty years ago.
Will The Live-Action Lilo & Stitch 2 Be Based On the Animated One?
Right now, we’re not sure. When Disney announced the sequel on June 26th, they merely stated a second film was in development and shared no details on plot, creative team, nor a release date for Lilo & Stitch 2. It stands to reason that Disney will likely seek to re-team with director Dean Fleischer Camp who directed the first live-action film after its resounding success, and that actors Maia Kealoha and Chris Sanders will reprise their roles as Lilo and the voice of Stitch respectively.
Given Lilo & Stitch 2‘s newfound streaming popularity, there is a chance that Disney will consider adapting the story, if not elements of it, for live action. However, the film, albeit earnest and quite heart-wrenching for a children’s straight-to-video sequel is rather small in scope. Disney may opt to expand its protagonists’ next adventure beyond Hawai’i to ensure another summer blockbuster smash with the live-action followup to the first film. Although if the animated Lilo & Stitch sequel continues to post such large numbers on Disney+, the studio may have to give the people what they truly seem to want.
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch is currently streaming on Disney+.
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