David has been recast in the “Lilo & Stitch” live-action remake after controversies surrounding Kahiau Machado and Chris Sanders is in talks to return for the film.
David in Lilo & Stitch Remake
Kahiau Machado was originally cast as David Kawena, Nani’s love interest, though his casting was not officially announced by Disney. Machado’s casting was criticized as colorism (prejudice against people with darker skin). Racial slurs were also discovered on his social media.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Machado has been replaced with Kaipo Dudoit. Dudoit is a hula dancer and a relative newcomer. He starred in the Hawai’ian film “My Partner” and had a one-episode role in “Magnum P.I.”
Lilo & Stitch Live-Action Cast
The Hollywood Reporter also says Chris Sanders is in final negotiations to reprise his voice role as Stitch.
Sydney Agudong will reportedly play Lilo’s older sister, Nani. Tia Carrere, the original voice of Nani, will portray a new character named Mrs. Kekoa. Amy Hill, who voiced Mrs. Hasagawa in the original “Lilo & Stitch,” will portray the new character Tūtū.
Deadline exclusively revealed that Courtney B. Vance was cast as Cobra Bubbles. Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen were cast in undisclosed roles but are assumed to be playing Jumba and Pleakley respectively.
Newcomer Maia Kealoha will play Lilo. While this will be Kealoha’s film debut, she does have experience as the 2023 Mini Miss Konda Coffee winner. Little Miss Kona Coffee is “Kona’s Premier Youth Competition featuring the Youngest of the Hawai’i Island young ladies ages 4-17.” The Mini Miss Kona Coffee division of the competition, which Keahola won, is for girls aged four to six.
Lilo & Stitch Live-Action Remake
The live-action remake of “Lilo & Stitch” is being produced for Disney+ exclusively and will be directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, who received an Oscar nomination for “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.” It will be written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright, and produced by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich.
The “Lilo & Stitch” live-action remake currently has no projected release date. Pre-production is scheduled for May 2024.
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Walt Disney Animation Studios released “Lilo & Stitch,” their 42nd animated feature film, in 2002. It was written and directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders (who is also the voice of Stitch). It was the second of three Disney animated features (the others being “Mulan” and “Brother Bear”) produced primarily at the animation studio located at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, then known as Disney-MGM Studios. “Lilo & Stitch” was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
The film follows a young Hawai’ian girl who adopts a “dog” from the local pound, completely unaware that it’s a dangerous scientific experiment taking refuge on Earth, hiding from its creator and those who see it as a menace and a criminal.
“Lilo & Stitch” spawned sequels “Stitch! The Movie,” “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch,” and “Leroy & Stitch,” as well as the TV series “Lilo & Stitch: The Series.”
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