Blockbuster Hits Mission: Impossible and Lilo & Stitch Dominate Memorial Day Box Office Earnings
Hollywood's Hottest Memorial Day Weekend Movies Are Breaking Box Office Records
This Memorial Day weekend, moviegoers are flocking to theaters to catch the latest blockbusters, with Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning leading the way.
As reported by Variety, these two films have made for the "largest Memorial Day holiday in history," raking in a collective $341.7 million worldwide. Lilo has blown away initial projections, and its current domestic take of $145.5 million has surpassed Top Gun: Maverick's four-day earnings of $160 million from 2022. Domestically, it's the second-best holiday weekend start behind Black Panther's Presidents Day 2018 earnings of $242 million. Lilo has also ranked as one of Disney's biggest live-action remake debuts, just behind 2019's The Lion King and 2017's Beauty & the Beast.
Final Reckoning, on the other hand, opened to $190 million worldwide, with $127 million of that coming from international audiences. By the end of the four-day weekend, its domestic take is expected to bump up to $77 million, setting a new record for the Mission: Impossible series. Both films have received both critical and audience acclaim, picking up momentum ahead of their releases and capitalizing on nostalgia to drive ticket sales. Lilo is based on a 23-year-old classic Disney film, while Final Reckoning may be the last in the series, or the last to star Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt.
Other notable holdovers from the weekend include Final Destination Bloodlines, Sinners, and Thunderbolts. Variety noted that it's been over a decade since Memorial Day audiences attended theaters as much as they did this year, and a vast improvement from 2024's showing of Furiosa and Garfield.
The summer season is shaping up to be an exciting one, with upcoming releases like Ballerina, How to Train Your Dragon, and 28 Years Later in June, followed by Superman and Fantastic Four in July.
Let us know what you thought of Mission: Impossible and Lilo & Stitch in the comments below. For more on upcoming film releases, check out the latest news on Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, DC Universe, and Doctor Who.
Memorial Day Weekend Box Office Champions
Here's a quick rundown of Memorial Day's top-grossing movies, featuring more recent hits like Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning:
- Lilo & Stitch (2025) - $183 million (4-day estimated)
- Fun Fact: Lilo & Stitch has set a new record for the highest-grossing Memorial Day weekend opening ever.
- Top Gun: Maverick (2022) - $160.5 million
- Did You Know: Top Gun: Maverick was a massive success at the box office and showed off Tom Cruise's acting chops.
- Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025) - $63 million (3-day)
- On the Rise: Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning performed well, especially given the popularity of its franchise.
- A Quiet Place Part II (2021) - $N/A
- Quick Fact: A Quiet Place Part II was a significant Memorial Day release in its own right.
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - $N/A
- Insight: X-Men: Days of Future Past is listed among notable Memorial Day releases.
- The future of technology will undoubtedly be influenced by the success of recent movies like 'Lilo & Stitch' and 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning', setting new box office records.
- Gizmodo and io9 might discuss the possible impact of these movies-and-tv blockbusters on the entertainment industry, considering their critical and audience acclaim.
- As Memorial Day weekend movies continue to perform well, moviegoers can anticipate exciting upcoming releases such as 'Ballerina', 'How to Train Your Dragon', and '28 Years Later' in June, followed by 'Superman' and 'Fantastic Four' in July.
