‘Lilo & Stitch’ and ‘Mission: Impossible’ Tracking to Sew Up Biggest Memorial Day Box Office in History

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The box office is headed for a record-breaking sewing bee over the long Memorial Day weekend.

Based on recent data, the simultaneous release of Disney’s live-action adaptation of Lilo & Stitch and Paramount’s Tom Cruise film Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning may bring about another Box Office Boom for both Hollywood studios and eager cinema owners alike.

Disney’s live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch is projected to have an impressive domestic opening weekend of around $120 million, which ranks among the top performances for such reimaginings by Disney. This estimation comes from data provided by a leading research firm, the National Research Group. The firm’s predictions often include a range rather than a single figure, and in this case, they suggest that the movie might earn anywhere between $110 million and $130 million.

Meanwhile, M:I is projected to open with a franchise record of approximately $80 million, significantly surpassing the $54.7 million debut of its predecessor and beating the three-day launch record of Mission: Impossible — Fallout ($61.2 million). NRG’s predictions suggest an opening range between $72 million and $88 million, though it is important to note that this weekend includes four days due to Memorial Day. Additionally, both Disney and Paramount still have three weeks left for their maximum promotional campaigns.

Should the combined box office performance of these two films match expectations, they may set a new record for Memorial Day weekend ticket sales in unadjusted terms, surpassing the $306 million earned by Fast & Furious 6 in 2013 ($117 million on opening weekend) and The Hangover Part III’s $50 million. Currently, these figures represent the highest Memorial Day weekend earnings to date.

As a gamer, I’d say it like this: “This year’s Memorial Day showdown between two blockbusters is set to break records! Back in 2007, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ raked in an impressive $140 million over the holiday weekend. Close behind was ‘Shrek the Third,’ which earned a solid $67 million.

The combined project featuring Stitch and M:I doesn’t have an officially designated title yet, unlike Barbenheimer (possibly “Stitch on a Mission” or “Stitchion”). However, this new venture represents a return to roots for Cruise.

In late July 2023, as the cinema industry was still rebounding from the pandemic and dealing with the consequences of strikes, the simultaneous release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s award-winning Oppenheimer sparked a renewed interest in moviegoing (industry insiders often say that good news lifts all ships). Remarkably, despite both films premiering on the same weekend, Barbie shone brightly with a record-breaking $162 million opening, while Nolan’s film earned an impressive, yet unusual, $82.4 million for an adult biographical drama.

Tom Cruise, now known as Hollywood’s theatrical emissary in the post-pandemic period, encouraged fans to watch both ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’, despite promoting his own film, ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’. However, this blockbuster movie, released two weeks prior, underperformed significantly. As a result, Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie decided to make changes for the next installment, opting not to call it ‘Dead Reckoning Part Two’ as originally planned.

The results of their hard work seem to be yielding success, as indicated by tracking. The materials for “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” are striking a chord with its intended audience in a significant manner. The same can be said for “Lilo & Stitch”, a story about an alien resembling a dog who becomes friends with a lonely girl, which is proving popular among families, teenage girls, and women younger than that who were fans of the 2002 animated movie. This is good news for Disney’s live-action projects following the less successful release of “Snow White” earlier this year.

This weekend, Disney and Marvel Studios kick off the summer box office with Thunderbolts*.

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2025-05-01 21:54