Box Office Report: Stitched Up

This was a big weekend for big movies. In one corner, we had a Disney live-action remake of a millennial favourite. In the other, we had the final installment in a decades-long action franchise headlined by a worldwide megastar. The winner was the cutest one. Sorry, Tom Cruise.

Lilo & Stitch didn’t have great reviews but it didn’t need them because it broke a ton of box office records this past weekend. It stormed to the number one spot with a staggering $145.5 million from 4,410 theatres: that’s a per-cinema average of $32,993. That’s the largest Memorial Day holiday gross in history, a record it claimed from another Cruise flick, Top Gun: Maverick. The movie also earned the second-largest opening across any four-day holiday weekend. Why did this Disney live-action remake succeed where another 2025 release, Snow White, failed? I think it’s just a case of nostalgia and brand-name recognition with the right generation. It’s easy to forget just how much the original Lilo & Stitch dominated pop culture upon release and how those Stitch toys were everywhere. It also just seemed like a cuter, more welcoming film to those seeking a fun time at the cinema, especially with younger kids. Plus, no Gal Gadot. That counts for something.

But do not cry for Ethan Hunt. Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning still earned $63 million. This one did better with older audiences and narrowly beat out Mission: Impossible — Fallout to land the highest-grossing debut crown of the franchise. This is a series that does well with good word-of-mouth and a long run in theatres. Its predecessor, Dead Reckoning, made the mistake of thinking it could compete with Barbenheimer. This Summer, the competition isn’t quite as intense. It could go all the way. International audiences are key here. The movie has already made $127 million outside of the U.S.

A24’s Friendship, starring Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson, is slowly becoming an indie box office hit. As it expands its theatrical run, audiences are moving towards the comedy. It earned just under $4.6 million from 1,055 locations. The indie icons often have trouble translating their cool vibes and reputation into commercial hits, so this could be an interesting change for them.

A Minecraft Movie is still making money, with over $420 million to its name domestically. But as it slows its run down, it looks like it might struggle to get to that coveted $1 billion mark. It’s currently at $940.5 million worldwide but Lilo & Stitch is going to gobble up a lot of theatres from the blocky ones. It’s still the second highest-grossing film of 2025 so far, but with Ne Zha 2 still making money hand over fist in China and closing in on $2.2 billion, it won’t be number one. I doubt any film will beat the Chinese blockbuster this year. $2.2 billion is enough to make it the fifth highest-grossing film ever. If it keeps up its historic run, it could take over Titanic. Think about that for a while.

Thunderbolts*/The New Avengers is seeing its own run slow down pretty quickly too. It brought in $9.1 million domestically this past weekend, bringing its total to $171.3 million. Worldwide, it’s made $355.5 million, which is about $14 million short of what Lilo & Stitch has grossed in its first weekend. It looks like it might struggle to break even, not unlike Captain America: Brave New World. Can Fantastic Four change things for the MCU? The power of Pedro compels you.

Other new releases this past weekend included Western The Last Rodeo, with $5,266,330 from 2,205 cinemas, and the delightfully titled Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, which grossed $290,970 from 61 theatres.

This coming week sees the release of horror film Bring Her Back, legacy sequel Karate Kid: Legends, and Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme.

You can check out the rest of the weekend box office numbers here.