Disney's CinemaCon presentation took place yesterday afternoon and opened with a sizzle reel of Stitch causing chaos in movies like The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts*. Unfortunately, that hasn't been released online (and likely won't be).
However, we do have an officially released clip from Lilo & Stitch (via Toonado.com) and a suitably chaotic poster showing Experiment 626 taking a bite out of every major Disney-owned franchise. Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, 20th Century Studios...none of them are safe from the iconic alien.
Stitch has remained incredibly popular since the original animated movie was released in 2002, and thanks to a clever, viral marketing campaign, excitement for this one is through the roof.
Plans called for it to be released as a Disney+ "Original" before Bob Iger returned as Disney CEO, and we'd say getting this movie into theaters was a smart move as it has all the makings of a huge hit. With any luck, we'll continue seeing wild crossovers like this in the weeks leading up to its big screen release next month.
So far, Disney has largely used Stitch to spoof its animated and live-action movies. Shifting focus to parodying Star Wars and Marvel movies would be a lot of fun and might be the plan if this latest poster is anything to go by.
Last October, we spoke to Stitch's creator and voice actor Chris Sanders about The Wild Robot and asked for his thoughts on Stitch's enduring popularity.
"Yeah, he’s become more popular than ever," the filmmaker acknowledged. "Something I’ve been aware of now [Laughs] since the film’s release. He was huge when the film came out, but he’s everywhere now. It’s really cool."
Lilo & Stitch is the wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.
The movie is directed by award-winning filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On), with a screenplay by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes, and stars Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Tia Carrere, Hannah Waddingham, Chris Sanders, with Courtney B. Vance, Zach Galifianakis, and introduces Maia Kealoha.
Lilo & Stitch is produced by Jonathan Eirich, p.g.a. and Dan Lin, with Tom Peitzman, Ryan Halprin, Louie Provost, Thomas Schumacher serving as executive producers.
Lilo & Stitch arrives in theaters on May 23, 2025. Check out the new poster and clip below.