Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu in early talks to helm live-action Lilo & Stitch

Disney has its eye on director Jon M. Chu for one of its upcoming animation-to-live-action tentpole movies.

Chu, who directed 2018's Crazy Rich Asians, is in early talks to helm the live-action Lilo & Stitch movie, EW has learned.

The filmmaker, also known for G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Jem and the Holograms, is already a part of the Disney family. October brought the announcement of Chu directing the pilot for the planned Willow series on Disney+ with Warwick Davis returning to the title role. Chu also directed the movie version of Broadway's In the Heights, which was bumped by studio Warner Bros. to June 18, 2021.

Plans for a live-action Lilo & Stitch—about a young girl in Hawaii named Lilo who befriends an extraterrestrial she mistakes for a dog and names Stitch—were revealed in 2018. Mike Van Waes wrote the current draft and The Hollywood Reporter notes Disney is looking for a new writer to potentially work with Chu, should the deal go through.

In the current state that is Disney's theatrical release schedule, which has undergone many changes in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a number of dates are earmarked in the coming years for live-action Disney titles. Those include Dec. 17, 2021; April 8, 2022; May 27, 2022; Aug. 12, 2022; Nov. 4, 2022; and March 10, 2023. Yet, it's also unclear at this stage whether Lilo & Stitch would go to theaters or Disney+.

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• Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu on the film's Golden Globe nominations: 'It's been a wild ride'