Family audiences and action movie fans fired up the box office, and set a new record for the Memorial Day weekend thanks to Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch remake blew past expectations, opening to an estimated $145.5 million from Friday to Sunday, Comscore reported. With estimates for the Monday holiday added, the film’s 4-day domestic debut climbs to $183 million.
That 4-day total is the best Memorial Day weekend opening ever, surpassing Top Gun: Maverick, which rang up $160.5 million in May 2022.
Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian called this weekend’s box office numbers “remarkable.”
“This sets the tone for what promises to be one of the best moviegoing summer seasons ever for cinemas around the world,” Dergarabedian told Urban Hollywood 411 on Sunday.
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Lilo & Stitch follows a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps mend the little girl’s broken family.
The film stars Sydney Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Tia Carrere, Hannah Waddingham, Chris Sanders, Courtney B. Vance, Zach Galifianakis, and introduces Maia Kealoha.
Dean Fleischer Camp directs from a script by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes.
Tom Cruise Scores Franchise Best
While families snapped up tickets to Lilo & Stitch, adults filled seats at screenings of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
The Tom Cruise-led spy thriller opened in second place with a strong $63 million over the weekend and an estimated $77 million over four days, Comscore reported.
If the numbers hold, the film will score the best opening in the franchise’s three-decade history.
“Tom Cruise is a true movie star who is also a relentless marketing machine and that is a big part of the franchise’s continued success,” Dergarabedian said.
This eighth installment of the series narrowly topped the 2018 debut of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which opened with $61 million over 3-days in 2018.
The Paramount and Skydance release marks the conclusion of the action franchise. Although in Hollywood, never say never.
Tom Cruise, who also produced the film, returns as Ethan Hunt and performs more death-defying stunts.
Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Angela Bassett, Henry Czerny, and Esai Morales also reprise their roles from the previous films.
“Nothing says summer popcorn movie like Mission: impossible, and that’s why eight installments on, movie fans still love seeing Tom Cruise and the entire mission crew involved in great spy movie adventures around the world,” Dergarabedian added.
Audiences said mission accomplished and gave the film an “A-” CinemaScore in exit polling.
Critics handed the sendoff an 80 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, although some reviews called out the movie’s “sprawl” and nearly 3-hour running time.
Elsewhere at the box office, third place went to last weekend’s leader, Final Destination Bloodlines. The film earned an estimated $19.6 million Friday through Sunday.
Thunderbolts* slipped to fourth place with $9.1 million in its fourth weekend. It was followed in fifth place by Sinners, which added another $8.7 million in its sixth week in theaters.
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