Dean Fleischer Camp, the filmmaker behind Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, is joining Disney. The 40-year-old director has been hired to make the live-action Lilo & Stitch movie.

Lilo & Stitch Was Greenlit Years Ago

The film has been in development since 2018 with Mike Van Waes writing the screenplay. Lilo & Stitch is produced by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich while Ryan Halprin is the executive producer.

The only piece of information regarding the cast is that Chris Sanders will voice Stitch, Lilo’s alien friend. Both critics and movie aficionados are eager to learn more about the actors who will portray the Pelekai sisters.

Lilo & Stitch‘s animated version was released in 2002 and although it wasn’t a massive success by contemporary box office standards, the movie has been described as a bright light in Disney’s down period. Gathering a considerable fanbase, it prompted Disney to launch several direct-to-video sequels, as well as TV series.

It Tells a Beautiful Story

The film takes place in Hawaii and tells the story of the bond between a lonely human girl, Lilo, and a dog-like alien named Stitch, who is engineered to be an extremely dangerous weapon. The two unlikely friends must keep each other safe from pursuing aliens and social workers.

Lilo & Stitch tackles various important topics, which are relevant to this day – such as friendship, family bonds, acceptance, diversity, compassion, etc. It’s no wonder that Disney executives made the decision to reboot the franchise with a live-action version of the story.

Filming will take place in Hawaii and was supposed to start in 2020 but was delayed. It’s also unclear whether Disney will opt for a theatrical or streaming release. However, one thing is certain, many of Lilo and Stitch’s fans are impatient to see them back in action.

Whether you love it or laugh at it, one thing’s certain — the coveted Eurovision Song Contest continues to amass a global audience every year. Now, the song contest is announcing a Latin American spin-off.

Eurovision Is Growing

When you pair culture, music, and a grand show together, you pretty much get a recipe for success and viewership. Eurovision’s global popularity has largely meant that a continental offshoot has been in the pipeline for a while. Some expansion efforts have already been made — the American Song Contest that aired last year and crowned K-pop star AleXa at the finale, while Eurovision Song Contest Canada will debut next year, in 2023.

The first sign of the expansion of the contest was the inclusion of non-European countries like Australia in the program as part of its “Building Bridges” campaign. In 2022 alone, Eurovision had more than 75 unique viewers on YouTube across more than 230 global territories.

Why Latin America, Though?

Turns out, Eurovision is quite popular in Latin America. According to the song contest’s viewership statistics, its highest ratings from non-participating countries outside of Europe come from Latin America — Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. That’s why contest officials have decided that a spin-off there is the most logical next step toward the global expansion of the beloved music event.

News of the spin-off was made official by Martin Österdahl, the Eurovision Song Contest Executive Supervisor. In his announcement, he said that after the successful launch of the American Song Contest, the European Broadcasting Union will be joining forces with Voxovation to bring the “excitement and magic” of Eurovision to Latin America. Given its rich and colorful culture, it’s fair to assume that the song contest there would give birth to many great hits and aspiring musicians like it did with Italy’s Maneskin, which won the 2021 edition.

At this stage, it’s too early to speak of timelines, but fans hope they won’t have to wait too long for the Latin America edition.