Disney’s Lilo & Stitch live-action remake adds Sydney Agudong as Lilo’s older sister Nani

Almost five years after the live-action remake of Disney’s Lilo & Stitch was announced, the cast is starting to come together.

Following announcements that Zach Galifianakis has signed on to play a mysterious role and newcomer Maia Kealoha will play Lilo, Sydney Agudong has signed on to play the role of Lilo’s older sister, Nani, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The original Disney animated movie hit theaters in 2002, following Lilo (voiced by Daveigh Chase), who adopted a young puppy from a local shelter.

She soon learns that Stitch (voiced by co-director Chris Sanders) is actually a supposedly dangerous science experiment who has taken refuge on Earth.

The role of Nani was voiced by Tia Carrere, and the original animated film grossed $273.1 million worldwide on an $80 million budget.

Sanders first developed the idea for the Stitch creature after graduating from the California Institute of Arts, which he had used for a failed pitch for children’s books.

A few years later, he was hired by Disney, where he worked as a storyboard artist for The Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and as head of story on Mulan.

He eventually pitched the idea at a Disney story retreat, with the studio teaming him with Dean DeBlois for their first project together, a collaboration that would continue with their successful How to Train Your Dragon franchise.

Their 2002 film would spawn a number of video games, Lilo & Stitch: The Series and Stitch!

The live-action remake, like the original, is also set in Hawaii, and also follows the bond between a lonely girl named Lilo and Stitch, a creature originally created to destroy.

They are hunted by government troops and social workers as they create an unbreakable bond.

Dean Fleischer Camp, who directed the Oscar-nominated animated film Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, is on board to direct.

He will direct from a screenplay written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright, who served as additional production support on Disney’s 2016 hit Moana, and will make his feature film debut with this project, having written several short films.

Rideback’s Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich are producing, with Rideback’s Ryan Halprin serving as executive producer.

Sanders made headlines last year when he applauded the idea of ​​Frozen paving the way for more animated sisterhood movies when he first did.

The film received praise for the Lilo and Nani characters and their authenticity, along with putting the spotlight on children from broken homes, rather than focusing on some kind of romantic angle as many animated films did.

To be clear, I love Frozen. But it was kind of frustrating for me because people said, ‘Finally a non-romantic relationship with these two girls,’ and I thought, ‘We’ve done that! That’s definitely been done before,'” Sanders admitted.

Lilo & Stitch producer Clark Spender added, “When the movie came out, a lot of critics were talking about that.

“Those moments that were grounded in reality in a way that people could see themselves, and it didn’t feel like they were cartoon characters,” he added.

Agudong made her acting debut in the 2013 film Second Chances before moving on to West Michigan in 2021 and starring Charlize in two episodes of Netflix’s On My Block.

She currently has the TV movie Trapped in the Farmhouse and the movie At Her Feet in post-production.