Blockbuster Box Office Success: Mission: Impossible and Lilo & Stitch Earn Significant Revenue over Memorial Day Weekend
Blockbuster Bonanza:
Holiday moviegoers are in for a treat! Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning and Lilo & Stitch are stealing the spotlight in theaters.
According to Variety, these two films have given us the "largest Memorial Day holiday in history." Raking in a whopping $341.7 million worldwide, Lilo is far surpassing initial predictions and its current domestic take of $145.5 million has surpassed Top Gun: Maverick's 2022 earnings of $160 million during all four days. Globally, it's the second-best holiday weekend start behind Black Panther's 2018 Presidents Day earnings of $242 million. Domestically, it's one of Disney's biggest debuts, trailing only behind 2019's The Lion King and 2017’s Beauty & the Beast. With a projected end-of-four-day weekend earnings of $183 million, it's set to break records.
On the other hand, Final Reckoning kicked off with a worldwide gross of $190 million, with international audiences contributing $127 million to that figure. By the end of the weekend, its domestic take of $63 million might skyrocket to $77 million, setting a new record for the Mission: Impossible series. Both films are receiving acclaim from both critics and audiences, fueled by growing hype leading up to their releases. Nostalgia plays a role in both movies as Lilo is based on a 23-year-old classic, and Reckoning could potentially be the last film in the series or the last for Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt.
Audiences aren't just flocking to these movies; holdovers like Final Destination Bloodlines, Sinners, and Thunderbolts are also seeing increased attendance. Variety points out that it's been over a decade since this level of theater-going was seen during Memorial Day, marking a marked improvement from 2024's weaker showing of Furiosa and Garfield. The summer season brings even more excitement with movies like Ballerina, How to Train Your Dragon, and 28 Years Later in June, followed by Superman and Fantastic Four in July.
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Interesting Facts:
The success of Lilo & Stitch marks it as one of Disney's biggest live-action remake debuts, coming in second only behind The Lion King and Beauty & the Beast. Although it's not yet reached the global earnings of these other films, its domestic and worldwide figures are significant and contribute significantly to Disney's financial success in 2025.
- The tech and entertainment websites Gizmodo and io9 are likely discussing the impressive box office performance of both 'Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning' and 'Lilo & Stitch' movies.
- As technology advances, it is shaping the future of movies, with blockbusters like 'Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning' utilizing cutting-edge special effects to deliver an immersive viewing experience for audiences.
- Fans of science fiction, action, and animation might be interested in upcoming movies like 'Ballerina', 'How to Train Your Dragon', '28 Years Later', 'Superman', and 'Fantastic Four', which are set to hit theaters in the coming months, as reported by various entertainment news sources including Gizmodo and io9 under their 'movies-and-tv' sections.
