Sequel to the Disney live-action film Lilo and Stitch (2025) will be directed by Chris Sanders, who co-created, co-wrote, and co-directed the original Lilo and Stitch animated film.

The sequel, which will feature a new story, will enter production later this year.

Sanders, who has voiced the character of Stitch in both animated and live-action films, is directing the film with Jonathan Eirich, who is returning as producer via the Rideback banner.

The film centres on the friendship between a lonely girl and a blue puppy that happens to be an escaped alien engineered to be a weapon of mass destruction.

The other works of Sanders, a big name in animated films, include co-writing the original animated film Lilo and Stitch (2002) with Dean DeBlois. The two later collaborated on How to Train Your Dragon (2010). Sanders also solo-directed the 2024 film The Wild Robot. He made his live-action debut with the 2020 film The Call of the Wild, which starred Harrison Ford.