Stitch vs. Cruise?! You Won’t BELIEVE What This Star Just Said!

by

23 years following its initial success as an animated movie, the beloved tale of Lilo & Stitch has returned, this time as a live-action version. It continues to delve into the bond between a young Hawaiian girl and the blue extraterrestrial she takes in as her own pet.

Despite varying success in Disney’s recent live-action remakes, it is projected that Lilo & Stitch will have a strong domestic debut of around $120 million during Memorial Day weekend, which could be one of the best showings for the studio’s reimagined films. Coincidentally, this release coincides with Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, anticipated to earn approximately $80 million in its debut. On Saturday, Courtney B. Vance attended the film’s premiere in Los Angeles to promote his role in it.

In the new Mission: Impossible film, Angela Bassett stars alongside Tom Cruise. When asked by The Hollywood Reporter about how he’d cope with this, Vance playfully said, “Tom, I don’t think you can outdo Stitch, but you’ll certainly give it your best effort.” He then added more sincerely, “We adore you, that much is clear. I’ll be there for Mission: Impossible 8, I’ll be there too.

Vance, much like many others in the acting crew, hadn’t watched the 2002 original, remarking, “I can’t believe I haven’t seen it and it seems everyone else has! The studio head, Alan Bergman, told me when we arrived that it would be a big hit.” He continued, “When you decide to create a live-action version of something so cherished, you must get it right. I think we all did the original justice.

In the movie, eight-year-old actress Maia Kealoha takes on the role of Lilo, while Chris Sanders once again lends his voice to Stitch. “To be honest,” Sanders shared about learning Disney was remaking the film, “I felt quite nervous.” He added that there’s a lot of anticipation when you hear such news. However, he also expressed optimism, hoping to be contacted for the role, which eventually happened. “It seemed completely natural to me to step back into this and ensure consistency,” he said about reprising his character.

Billy Magnussen and Zach Galifianakis join the cast as extraterrestrial characters searching for Stitch on Earth. In an interview, Galifianakis shared that during filming, they frequently found themselves acting opposite tapes, tennis balls, or stuffed animals instead of a real co-star. He admitted that these inanimate objects possess more versatility than he does when it comes to acting. When there’s no live character to react to, Galifianakis explained that it requires coordination and attention to detail, as actors must constantly adjust their focus and scan multiple locations to locate the object they are supposed to interact with. This makes the process slightly more challenging compared to performing with a human counterpart.

As a devoted admirer, I’d like to share my perspective on the making of “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.” While the film may appear different from other projects at first glance, director Dean Fleischer Camp pointed out that the challenges they both faced in integrating an animated character into a live-action setting were surprisingly similar.

Moreover, he drew a fascinating parallel between Marcel and Stitch from “Lilo & Stitch.” Both characters, despite their adorable appearances, share a DNA of being unlikely heroes striving to navigate a world that doesn’t always accommodate them. This duality makes them endearing, amusing, and yet, they harbor a profound wellspring of melancholy that one might not initially anticipate.

When it came to animating Stitch for the screen, Camp emphasized that they aimed to preserve all of the character’s expressiveness and humor found in traditional animation, even as they transitioned to live-action. Executive producer Jonathan Eirich shared that achieving the perfect look for Stitch was initially quite daunting, but when they unveiled it at D23 last July and saw the positive online response, it was a huge relief.

Lilo & Stitch hits theaters on Friday.

Read More

2025-05-18 19:54