Both Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning contributed to the biggest Memorial Day weekend in box office history.
Movie theaters across the country surged with foot traffic as Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning powered an explosive $322 million box office total across all titles—a new high for the holiday frame.
Experiment 626 in the Live Action Lilo & Stitch movie – YouTube, IGN
Families turned out in force for Lilo & Stitch, Disney’s live-action remake of the 2002 animated classic. The film earned a massive $145.5 million over the weekend and is projected to close out the four-day stretch with $183 million. That total not only blew past industry expectations, it broke the Memorial Day opening record previously held by Top Gun: Maverick ($160 million over four days).
It now stands as the second-highest four-day holiday debut in history, just behind Marvel’s Black Panther ($242 million over Presidents’ Day weekend in 2018).
Meanwhile, Tom Cruise’s latest outing as Ethan Hunt also proved formidable. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning drew older audiences in droves, earning a franchise-best $63 million across the standard weekend and $77 million through Monday. It narrowly outpaced Mission: Impossible – Fallout’s previous record ($61 million) to become the top domestic opening in the series’ 29-year run.
Screen Capture from MI: Dead Reckoning
“A record opening on the eighth iteration is remarkable,” said Paramount distribution chief Chris Aronson. “The spectacle of what Tom and McQ [director Christopher McQuarrie] put on screen is one-of-a-kind in today’s marketplace.”
That one-two punch, combined with strong holds from recent titles like Final Destination Bloodlines, Thunderbolts, and Sinners, pushed this Memorial Day to new heights—eclipsing the 2013 record of $314 million that had been set by the trio of Fast & Furious 6, The Hangover Part III, and Star Trek Into Darkness.
Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), Warner Bros. Pictures
The strong turnout marks a dramatic turnaround from last year’s lackluster holiday frame, which struggled to clear $132 million in total. The weak opening of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Garfield left theaters empty and momentum stalled—something this year’s slate has already corrected.
“Every film on the release calendar for the rest of the summer is going to benefit from the momentum created over this monumental record-breaking Memorial weekend in theaters,” said Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
Internationally, Lilo & Stitch exploded with another $158.7 million, bringing its global box office total to an astounding $341.7 million after just one weekend. With a reported production budget of $100 million and an additional $100 million spent on marketing, the film is already well on its way to profitability and potentially joining the exclusive billion dollar club.
Lilo kisses Stitch on the nose in Lilo & Stitch – YouTube, IGN
The project was directed by Dean Fleischer Camp and received an “A” CinemaScore from opening-day audiences.
Among Disney’s modern remakes, Lilo & Stitch still ranks behind The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast in terms of debut strength. It’s also a major bounce-back after the March release of Snow White floundered at the global box office, taking in just $204 million against a $250 million budget. By contrast, Lilo & Stitch made more in four days than Snow White did across its entire run.
The contrast between the two films goes beyond the numbers. Snow White drew early controversy for sidelining the traditional fairytale in favor of progressive messaging, including widespread recasting choices and public comments by lead actress Rachel Zegler, who openly criticized the original 1937 film and dismissed the idea of a love story.
Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White (2025), Walt Disney Studios
The backlash was immediate and intense, with many longtime Disney fans rejecting what they viewed as an ideological overhaul of a classic. In stark contrast, Lilo & Stitch avoided political messaging entirely, choosing instead to focus on heartfelt storytelling, family bonds, and visual spectacle with some fairly major changes to the film’s ending that weren’t publicized before release.
The result was a film that appealed across generations and earned strong word-of-mouth from audiences rather than headlines about offscreen controversy.
“It’s a crowd-pleaser, and the audience score is outstanding,” noted David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.
Tom Cruise standing for an interview – YouTube, The Upcoming
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning also packed a punch globally, with $127 million from overseas markets bringing its worldwide opening to $190 million. Paramount had started the international rollout a week prior, incorporating those numbers into the final figure.
While the opening is strong, The Final Reckoning carries one of the largest production budgets in film history, reportedly nearing $400 million due to lockdown delays, dual strikes, and inflation-related complications. The current franchise box office high remains Fallout with $791 million globally—a mark this latest entry will need to surpass to even reach the break-even threshold.
Early reviews aren’t quite as glowing as last year’s Dead Reckoning Part One, but audiences gave the film an “A-” CinemaScore. Featuring a high-stakes plot centered on a rogue artificial intelligence known as the Entity, the movie offers plenty of large-scale action and stunt work from Cruise, who at 62 continues to defy industry norms.
“It’s going to make a lot of money,” said Gross. “But the costs are enormous, and it’ll be lucky to break even. The delays were uncontrollable and unfortunate.”
The Thunderbolts in Marvels Thunderbolts* – YouTube, Marvel Entertainment
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Other standouts this weekend included Final Destination Bloodlines, which added $24.5 million over the holiday and has now hit $187 million globally in just two weeks. Thunderbolts, in its fourth weekend, earned $12 million to reach a $353 million global total—still trailing its $180 million budget with narrow theatrical margins.
Rounding out the top five, Sinners continued its remarkable run with $11.2 million over the weekend and a $339 million global take, including $259 million domestic.
A screenshot from A Minecraft Movie – YouTube, Warner Bros.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ Minecraft remains the top-grossing title of the year so far, approaching the billion-dollar mark with $940 million globally. But Lilo & Stitch is now a serious contender to take the box office crown if momentum continues.
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