That’s right, Disney is doing a live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch and the cast is coming into fruition. Zach Galifianakis has officially joined the cast of the movie that has Disney fans buzzing. Disney has not disclosed the details of Galifianakis’ role in the film. However, the film is set to be released on Disney+. Dean Fleischer Camp’s Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is nominated for best-animated feature at the upcoming 95th annual Academy Awards. He will be directing the Lilo & Stitch adaptation from Chris Kekaniokalani Bright’s script.
Galifianakis will star in the live-action movie that follows the iconic 2002 animated film, Lilo & Stitch. The family hit grossed $273 million globally at the box office. Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois wrote and directed Lilo & Stitch. The film centers around 6-year-old Lilo and her teenage sister, Nani. The pair live in Hawai’i and adopt Stitch, an adorable, mischievous blue alien. The movie features wonderful songs, such as “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride,” and introduced audiences outside Hawai’i to the concept of ‘ohana.
Zach Galifianakis Gets A New Role
Zach Galifianakis arrives at the U.S. premiere of Ron’s Gone Wrong at El Capitan Theatre on October 19, 2021 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
Galifianakis marks the beginning of the studio’s casting process for the film, which is still in the early stages of pre-production. Disney has begun a wide search for their perfect Lilo and Nani. Stitch will, obviously, be made and portrayed using CGI. Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich (Rideback) are producing the Lilo & Stitch remake. Ryan Halprin (Rideback) will executive produce. Fans know Galifianakis for his work in The Hangover trilogy, but he has additional impressive credits. Some of these credits include Due Date, The Campaign, Puss in Boots, Keeping Up with the Joneses, and The Lego Batman Movie. He also won two primetime Emmy awards for his short-form series, Between Two Ferns, and is a five-time nominee.
This is not Galifianakis’ first time working with Disney. He voiced Ron in Disney’s Twentieth Century Studios and Locksmith Animation series, Ron’s Gone Wrong. He also played a live-action role for Disney previously with 2018’s A Wrinkle in Time. UTA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and Yorn Levine represent Galifianakis. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to announce the news of his casting.
One of the most common interview questions asked of Liam Neeson is if he would ever return to his role as Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn. Fans are used to his response of “no.” This trend continued when Neeson joined the likes of Paul Rudd on the February 16 episode of Watch What Happens Live! However, in the episode, Neeson elaborated on why he feels the way that he does. He said that the Star Wars franchise is hurting the magic that it holds. When asked if he was returning, Neeson said, “No, I’m not. There’s so many spinoffs of ‘Star Wars.’ It’s diluting it to me, and it’s taken away the mystery and the magic in a weird way.”
Liam Neeson did make a brief appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi, the series on Disney+. However, he only had roughly two lines of dialogue. He made his debut in the Star Wars universe in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 1999. However, his character died, and his time in Star Wars ended. While Neeson would not return for a spin-off, he told ComicBook.com last year that he would reprise the character under one condition: his returning appearance would need to be in a movie, not a television show.
Neeson On “Watch What Happens Live!”
Back then, he said about a Star Wars return: “Oh, I think so, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so…if it was a film. Yeah, I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to TV, I must admit. I just like the big screen, you know? Qui-Gon, I can’t believe it’s 24 years since we made The Phantom Menace, I just cannot believe where the time has gone. It was a terrific experience, shooting that film in London.”
Neeson’s statement about Star Wars spin-off quantity is accurate. As far as movies go, Lucasfilm has released Rogue One and Solo outside of its main Skywalker storyline. Furthermore, Star Wars has continued to expand its universe on Disney+ with television shows. The network has premiered The Mandalorian, The Book of Bobo Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the past. In continuation, upcoming series releases include season 3 of The Mandalorian, which launches on March 1, 2023. Plus, Ashoka and The Acolyte are premiering on the network
February 2023 is a big month for streaming. Highly-anticipated movies and shows are coming back to screens and even streaming for the first time. Beginning on February 1, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy will become available. On the same date, La La Land and It will be added to the platform. The highly anticipated You Season 4 will stream Part 1 on February 9 and Outer Banks Season 3 will stream on February 23. The highly acclaimed The Woman King will be available to stream on February 16 and We Have a Ghost will stream on February 24.
HBO Max also has an impressive amount of additions coming in February 2023. Last Week Tonight With John Oliver Season 10 will premiere on February 19. The platform’s added movies include the likes of Force Majeure, Take This Waltz, and Swiss Army Man on February 1. Empire of Light and All That Breathes will be available on February 7. Additionally, The Last of Us will continue to air new episodes every Sunday throughout the month of February.
February 2023
In this photo illustration a Hulu logo seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Disney+ is competing with a similarly impressive lineup for February 2023. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is taking to streaming screens on February 1. The explorative special, Marvel Studios’ Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be added as a companion to the hit film on February 8. The platform will also add The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder Season 2 to the service on February 1. There will also be the addition of House of Darkness starring Kate Bosworth and Justin Long on February 10 and the documentary j-hope in the Box on February 17.
Other streaming services also have competitive additions to their platforms for February 2023. Hulu is adding the horror film Piggy on February 9 and Planet Sex with Cara Delevigne on February 14. AppleTV+ is adding Dear Edward Season 1 and the highly anticipated film, Sharper, starring Sebastian Stan on February 17. Peacock is adding Spoiler Alert on February 3 and Bel-Air Season 2 on February 23. Prime Video is adding Beast starring Idris Elba on February 7, as well as the films Somebody I Used to Know (February 10), Smile (February 21), and The Consultant (February 24). Check out the extensive list of media available to stream on top platforms below.
Netflix
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (February 1)
La La Land (February 1)
It (February 1)
Bad Boys and Bad Boys II (February 1)
Freeridge Season 1 (February 2)
True Spirit (February 3)
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (February 4)
Bill Russell: Legend (February 8)
You Season 4, Part 1 (February 9)
Love Is Blind: After the Altar (February 10)
Your Place or Mine (February 10)
Perfect Match (February 14)
African Queens Season 1 (February 15)
Full Swing Season 1 (February 15)
Red Rose Season 1 (February 15)
The Upshaws Part 3 (February 16)
The Woman King (February 16)
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (February 22)
The Strays (February 22)
Outer Banks Season 3 (February 23)
Formula 1: Drive to Survive (February 24)
We Have a Ghost (February 24)
A Whole Lifetime With Jamie Demetriou (February 28)
Disney+
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (February 1)
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder Season 2 (February 1)
Miraculous Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3 (February 1)
Marvel Studios’ Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (February 8)
House of Darkness (February 10)
j-hope in the Box (February 17)
Hulu
Killing County Season 1 (February 3)
Piggy (February 9)
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence (February 9)
Planet Sex With Cara Delevigne (February 14)
Wu-Tang: An American Saga (February 15)
Animaniacs (February 17)
Bruiser (February 24)
Paramount+
65th Grammy Awards (February 5)
At Midnight (February 10)
Star Trek: Picard (February 16)
HBO Max
Force Majeure (February 1)
Take This Waltz (February 1)
Swiss Army Man (February 1)
C.B. Strike: Troubled Blood Season 3 (February 6)
Empire of Light (February 7)
All That Breathes (February 7)
Edge of Tomorrow (February 7)
Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special (February 9)
Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark (February 11)
Fruitvale Station (February 13)
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver Season 10 (February 19)
Four years after Stan Lee passed away at 95, Disney+ has announced a new documentary coming in 2023 to commemorate the Marvel Comics pioneer.
Sharing the news on what would have been Lee’s 100th birthday, the streaming giant also penned on Twitter this past Wednesday, “100 years of dreaming. 100 years of creating. 100 years of Stan Lee.”
100 years of dreaming. 100 years of creating. 100 years of Stan Lee.
The famed comic book writer died in 2018 after being rushed to Los Angele’s Cedars-Sinai Hospital. His wife, Joan Boocock Lee, passed away a year earlier in 2017.
Becoming a leader in the comic book industry, Lee helped bring some of our favorite superheroes to life, including Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the Black Panther, and the X-Men. In the early 1970s, he was named publisher of Marvel Comics and later went on to revolutionize the way superheroes were portrayed on television and in film.
Prior to his death, fans would often look forward to catching his brief cameos throughout different Marvel films.
According to NBC News, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke about Lee’s legacy in a statement shortly after his death. “Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created,” he stated, also adding, “A super hero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world, Stan had the power to inspire, to entertain, and to connect. The scale of his imagination was only exceeded by the size of his heart.”
NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 23: (EXCLUSIVE ACCESS) Comic book legend Stan Lee poses at the opening reception for ”Stan Lee: A Retrospective” presented by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art on February 23, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by Mat Szwajkos/Getty Images)
In a 2013 sit-down with the San Diego Tribune, Lee offered a description of his daily schedule at the time, saying, “I get up in the morning and argue with my wife.”
Referring to the president of POW! Entertainment, he added, “Then I get to the office and argue with Gill. Actually, it’s fun. I come to the office and there are always a million things to do.”
