Both films propelled the biggest Memorial Day weekend ever, with ‘Lilo & Stitch’ surpassing Tom Cruise’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ to become the holiday’s highest-grossing opener—Cruise, of course, also stars in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise.
The Memorial Day box office is absolutely on fire.
Disney’s live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch and Tom Cruise’s final Mission: Impossible installment, from Paramount and Skydance, powered the biggest start-of-summer holiday weekend ever, according to Sunday estimates. Lilo & Stitch shattered expectations with a record-smashing four-day domestic debut of $183 million and an impressive $341.7 million worldwide. Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning delivered a franchise-best opening of $77 million domestically and $190 million globally. The domestic totals include a three-day weekend haul of $145.5 million for Lilo & Stitch and $63 million for Final Reckoning.
The Memorial Day box office is blazing hot.
Disney’s live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch and Tom Cruise’s final Mission: Impossible film, from Paramount and Skydance, fueled the biggest start-of-summer holiday weekend ever, based on Sunday estimates. Lilo & Stitch obliterated expectations with a record-breaking four-day domestic debut of $183 million and an impressive $341.7 million globally. Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning scored a franchise-best $77 million domestic opening and $190 million worldwide. These figures include a three-day weekend tally of $145.5 million for Lilo and $63 million for Final Reckoning.
The female-led Lilo & Stitch was always expected to outperform the latest M:I entry, but no one foresaw it reaching such heights. In a twist of irony, Lilo surpassed Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick ($160 million) to claim the title of the biggest Memorial Day opener ever—not adjusted for inflation. Another fun irony: back in June 2002, Cruise’s Minority Report narrowly beat the original animated Lilo & Stitch at the box office when they opened head-to-head.
In North America, Lilo & Stitch zoomed to the second-biggest four-day holiday weekend ever behind Marvel and Disney’s Black Panther ($242 million), and secured the third-largest debut for a Disney live-action title both domestically and globally, trailing only Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King (all figures unadjusted for inflation).
Just three weeks ago, Lilo & Stitch was tracking for a $120 million opening. By Thursday, projections had climbed to $165 million. It ultimately blew past that. Why?
Stitch isn’t just drawing families; 60% of ticket buyers were non-parents and kids—well above the norm. The film sparked huge interest among teenage girls and young women—Gen Z and younger Millennials—who grew up with the original movie and TV show about a Hawaiian girl navigating a complicated family life while adopting a mischievous, dog-like alien. Industry experts say nostalgia is fueling ticket sales, similar to what happened with Disney’s live-action Aladdin, which grossed $1.1 billion worldwide by appealing to families, teens, and young adults alike. Notably, Rideback produced both Lilo and 2019’s Aladdin.
The movie is also resonating with a diverse audience: Latinos—who are the most frequent moviegoers in the U.S.—accounted for 33% of ticket buyers, and Lilo set the biggest opening ever for a live-action Disney remake across Latin America.
Interestingly, Lilo & Stitch was originally slated for a direct-to-Disney+ release, which helps explain its relatively modest $100 million production budget.
Both films benefited from strong critic reviews and glowing audience reactions, with five-out-of-five stars from moviegoers polled by PostTrak. Lilo holds a 70% Rotten Tomatoes critic score and earned an A CinemaScore from audiences.
Lilo & Stitch kicked off its historic run with a massive $55 million Friday from 4,410 theaters—including a record-breaking $14.5 million in Thursday previews, the largest preview gross of the year and a Memorial Day record for Disney’s live-action studio. It topped previews for The Little Mermaid ($10.3 million) and Aladdin ($7 million), and even beat the $14.1 million Memorial Day preview for Solo: A Star Wars Story. Overall, it marked the seventh-largest preview gross for any PG-rated film, edging out Disney’s recent animated hit Moana 2 ($13.8 million).
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, which dominated IMAX screens, made up for the modest $54.7 million five-day opening of Dead Reckoning and bested Fallout’s $61.2 million three-day launch, setting a new franchise record. Historically, M:I movies have never been huge openers since their fanbase skews older, especially males. Indeed, over-55 ticket buyers comprised the largest audience segment, followed by the key 18-24 demographic. The film currently holds an 80% Rotten Tomatoes score and earned an A- CinemaScore.
“Mission accomplished,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s domestic chief of distribution. “This is a remarkable result for the eighth installment in a franchise that’s 30 years in the making.”
Cruise’s film, directed by his longtime collaborator Christopher McQuarrie, opened Friday with $24.8 million from 3,857 theaters, including Thursday previews. It set a franchise preview record with $8.3 million, ahead of Dead Reckoning Part One ($7 million) and Fallout ($6 million).
One major financial challenge for Final Reckoning is its $400 million net production budget before marketing—making it one of the most expensive films ever made. However, Paramount insiders note each new installment boosts the franchise’s overall value, including home entertainment sales and rentals of previous titles.
Thanks to the power of these two films, overall Memorial Day weekend ticket sales are expected to exceed $325 million. The previous record belonged to 2013’s $306 million haul, led by Fast & Furious 6 ($117 million) and The Hangover Part III ($50 million). This year also marks the best showing ever for two Memorial Day releases competing head-to-head. For context, in 2007, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End opened with $140 million over the holiday, followed by Shrek the Third with $67 million.
While the Lilo & Stitch/Mission: Impossible combo isn’t expected to become quite the cultural sensation that Barbenheimer was in July 2023, the powerful pairing cannot be ignored. (And for a catchy nickname? How about “Stitchin: Impossible”?)
Overseas, Lilo & Stitch is also going head-to-head with Final Reckoning, though the M:I film rolled out in select major markets last weekend via previews.
Internationally, Lilo opened to $158.7 million—again surpassing expectations—with some of the highest opening-day grosses of the year so far in China, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, and Italy.
Final Reckoning reported an international start of $127 million through Sunday, matching expectations. The film won’t open in China until May 30.
Rounding out the North American Memorial Day lineup, New Line and Warner Bros.’ Final Destination: Bloodlines took third place with an estimated $24 million over four days, lifting its early domestic total to $94.6 million and $187.1 million worldwide.
Marvel and Disney’s Thunderbolts landed fourth with an estimated $12 million in its fourth weekend, raising its domestic total to about $174 million through Monday and $335 million globally. Ryan Coogler and Warner Bros.’ sleeper hit Sinners earned $11.2 million in its sixth weekend and is projected to finish Monday with a domestic total of $259 million and $341 million worldwide.
The holiday’s other new nationwide release, Angel Studios’ The Last Radio, finished sixth with $5.4 million domestically.
Estimates will be updated Monday morning.
May 23, 4:10 p.m.: Updated with revised weekend estimates based on early Friday returns.
May 24, 7:45 a.m.: Updated with revised weekend estimates.
May 25, 8 a.m.: Updated with revised weekend estimates.
