Zach Galifianakis to Lead Live-Action 'Lilo & Stitch' for 'Marcel the Shell with Shoes On' Director

by Darian Scalamoni

    All aboard the Hawaiian Roller Coaster ride! That's right, we finally have an update on the upcoming live-action remake of beloved animated movie Lilo & Stitch from Disney. According to an exclusive from The Hollywood Reporter, it appears that Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover, Birdman) has been set as one of the leads for the remake of the 2002 film.

    THR reports this news in addition to news on who will be directing the film, as Dean Fleischer Camp, coming off the charming animated/live-action hybrid Marcel the Shell with Shoes On will helm Lilo & Stitch. Dean DuBlois and Chris Sanders teamed up to write the original animated movie and have since went off to write and direct other animated hits such as How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods. Meanwhile, the live-action film will be penned by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright. The movie is being set to be a major exclusive release on Disney+. 

    Lilo & Stitch is an animated cult classic set in Hawaii about young girl named Lilo who forms an unbreakable bond and relationship with a dog-like alien creature named Stitch, who is a genetically enhanced science experiment that is a bundle of chaos wrapped in blue fur. They battle against other intergalactic beings to form a family alongside Lilo's older sister, Nani. The pre-production is currently focused on a wide search to find their live-action Lilo and Nani, while Stitch will obviously be a CG character. There are no details as of now on exactly who Galifianakis will be playing in the film.

    While Galifianakis is best known for his R-rated comedy trilogy The Hangover, he also has worked with Disney before in 2018's A Wrinkle in Time. Galifianakis hasn't appeared in a live-action project since the end of his FX series Baskets which he starred in alongside the late, great Emmy-winner Louie Anderson. However, he has been voicing characters in recent years for Bob's Burgers, Ron's Gone Wrong, The Lego Batman Movie and Missing Link from Laika. He is also known for his absurdly hilarious online talk show Between Two Ferns. 

    Galifianakis will make his return to the big screen soon with two appearances in smaller dramedies; first he'll appear in The Beanie Bubble which tells the crazed story of Beanie Babies in America in the 1990s alongside Elizabeth Banks and Sarah Snook. Then, he'll follow that up with the true story of whistleblower Reality Winner, a young woman who exposed Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and served jail time after leaking government documents. That film will be titled Winner, led by CODA star Emilia Jones and Galifianakis will play her father along with Connie Britton playing her mother.