Live-action “Lilo & Stitch 2” gets May 26, 2028 theatrical release date

Published on 3/18/26 by Craig Smith

Disney has officially set May 26, 2028 as the theatrical release date for live-action “Lilo & Stitch 2,” giving the sequel a firm spot on the studio’s long-range calendar. The date was announced during The Walt Disney Company’s 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, where CEO Josh D’Amaro confirmed that the follow-up to 2025’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” will arrive over Memorial Day weekend.

That timing is notable for more than just scheduling. Disney is clearly positioning the sequel in the same corridor that helped turn the first film into a breakout theatrical success. The original live-action “Lilo & Stitch” opened on Memorial Day weekend in 2025 and went on to become one of Disney’s biggest box office stories of the year. In July 2025, Disney said the movie had crossed $1 billion globally, making it the first Motion Picture Association release of 2025 to hit that milestone and confirming that the studio’s reimagining connected far beyond nostalgic interest alone.

The May 26, 2028 date also gives Disney a clear way to capitalize on a franchise that has grown well beyond its 2002 animated origins. By the time the sequel arrives, it will come nearly three years after Disney first announced that “Lilo & Stitch 2” was officially in development on June 26, 2025 — a fitting reveal timed to “626 Day,” the annual fan celebration tied to Stitch’s experiment number. At the time, Disney did not offer story details or a release window, instead confirming only that the sequel was moving forward after the first film’s strong performance.

That leaves the biggest creative questions unanswered for now. Disney has still not revealed whether “Lilo & Stitch 2” will draw directly from the animated sequel “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch,” take inspiration from the franchise’s television and direct-to-video expansions, or tell an entirely original story built for the live-action continuity.

Even without story specifics, the release-date announcement says a lot about how Disney views the franchise internally. The company has continued to point to “Lilo & Stitch” as a major success story across multiple parts of its business. In addition to the first film’s box office performance, Disney has highlighted the property’s broader brand strength, including renewed streaming interest in the original animated movie and related content on Disney+. That larger ecosystem helps explain why the sequel was moved from a development headline to a dated theatrical release with relatively little delay.

There is also some strategic value in the date itself. Memorial Day weekend has become one of the most competitive launch windows on the movie calendar, but it is also a prime place for family event films with broad audience appeal. By putting “Lilo & Stitch 2” there, Disney is signaling confidence that the sequel can play as a true tentpole rather than a smaller follow-up riding on goodwill from the first movie.

For now, May 26, 2028 is the main concrete takeaway. Cast details, filmmakers, footage, and plot specifics have yet to be officially outlined in Disney’s public-facing announcements. But the company has made one thing unmistakably clear: the live-action “Lilo & Stitch” was not a one-off success. Disney sees more story — and more box office potential — in Stitch’s future, and it has now marked the date when audiences will see what comes next.