Summer box office ignites with $304m debut for ‘Lilo & Stitch’ and $190m for ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’

Worldwide box office: May 23-25

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.  

‘Lilo & Stitch’ beats Tom Cruise in summer blockbuster face-off

The simultaneous launch of Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning proved complementary rather than competitive at the weekend… but with Disney’s live-action remake of its 2002 animated classic proving the more-popular offering.

Lilo & Stitch has debuted with an estimated $158.7m across 52 international markets. In North America, the three-day estimate is $145.5m, and including today’s (Monday May 26) Memorial Day holiday, that number rises to $183.0m.

The global launch is $304.2m or $341.7m, depending on whether the Memorial Day domestic estimate is included. At the start of April, Warner Bros’ and Legendary Pictures’ A Minecraft Movie debuted with $313.7m globally.

For Disney, Lilo & Stitch offers its third-biggest live-action opening of all time globally, behind only The Lion King (2019 remake) and Beauty And The Beast (2017 remake).

Among comparisons offered by Disney, the international-markets opening number is 139% ahead of The Little Mermaid, 70% ahead of last year’s Mufasa: The Lion King, and only 9% behind Universal/Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Lilo & Stitch performed particularly powerfully in Latin America, where it delivered the top opening of 2025 for the region and in every market. Mexico, with an estimated $23.7m, is the runaway international winner, far ahead of second-placed UK/Ireland ($12.9m). Brazil comes third with an estimated $11.1m.

Europe is also powerful, and UK/Ireland is joined in Lilo & Stitch’s top five international markets by France (ranked fourth with an estimated $10.7m) and Italy ($9.2m).

In Asia-Pacific, the top markets are China (ranked sixth overall with an estimated $8.3m) and Australia ($6.0m).

The coming weekend sees the film open in Hong Kong, with Japan a week later on June 6.

The success of Lilo & Stitch has pushed Disney to $2.08bn globally for the year to date – the first US studio to pass $2bn so far this year.

Lilo & Stitch puts Disney’s strategy of remaking its animated hits back on track, after experiencing fairly lacklustre numbers this year with Disney’s Snow White – $205.2m worldwide so far. Upcoming next summer is Disney’s live-action remake of Moana.

Lilo & Stitch is the latest blockbuster family film this year to successfully roll the dice on a filmmaker with sturdy independent roots – Marcel The Shell With Shoes On’s Dean Fleischer Camp. A Minecraft Movie, from Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess, has grossed $939.9m to date.

‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ scores franchise record opening

Paramount and Skydance have delivered a franchise record with the global opening of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Across 64 international markets, this eighth Mission: Impossible film has grossed an estimated $127.0m including previews. For North America, the three-day weekend estimate is $63.0m, rising to $77.0m including today’s Memorial Day holiday.

Worldwide, the weekend estimate is $190.0m, or $204.0m including Memorial Day in North America.

The performance across Asia-Pacific has been particularly powerful, with the region providing three of the top five international markets, and five of the top 10 – despite the fact that China has yet to open.

South Korea leads the international pack with an estimated $12.7m, ahead of Japan ($11.0m), UK/Ireland (10.7m) and France ($7.8m). Right behind is Australia ($7.7m), followed by Taiwan ($6.3m) and Germany ($6.0m). Mexico, which went crazy for Lilo & Stitch, is only the ninth biggest market for the Mission: Impossible film, with an estimated $3.9m.

The success in Asia validates the team’s promotional efforts, including a global tour which launched in Japan with a Tokyo premiere, then segueing to South Korea with a Seoul premiere, before landing in Europe at the Cannes Film Festival. London came next, before the domestic North American premiere in New York.

Imax has delivered franchise-best numbers, with an estimated three-day $27m total, and $31m including Monday. Excluding Memorial Day, Imax delivered a 14.2% share of the global opening. In North America, the share is 20%.

Including other premium formats, the total box office share for Imax and premium in North America is 38%.

The Final Reckoning is chasing the $571.1m worldwide box office total achieved by the previous film in the series, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

That film proved a box office disappointment – with audiences seemingly cautious when it came to shelling out for part one of a story. (This titling misstep was avoided by rival studios when it came to launching Dune and Wicked.)

The three previous Mission: Impossible films in the series had all delivered bigger global box office numbers than Dead Reckoning Part One, peaking in 2018 with Mission: Impossible – Fallout ($824.2m).

Despite the powerful opening, The Final Reckoning still has a long road to traverse to match that total. The film opens in China later this week (May 30).

‘The Phoenician Scheme’ begins international rollout with UK launch

Fresh from its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Universal/Focus Features landed The Phoenician Scheme in UK/Ireland cinemas at the weekend, launching with an estimated $1.1m.

This latest from Wes Anderson has opened in line with 2021’s The French Dispatch. However, the numbers are below the launch of the more recent Asteroid City.

Asteroid City began in June 2023 with £1.1m for the three-day weekend and £1.2m including previews. At today’s exchange rates (which are not the same as they were in 2023), those numbers convert to $1.5m and $1.6m.

The Phoenician Scheme lands in North America this coming weekend, and also expands its international footprint, hitting major European markets France, Germany, Spain and Italy, plus also Australia, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea. Japan follows in September.