Summary
With roughly two weeks to debut, marketing for theLilo & Stitchlive-action remake has ramped up. Previous tracking suggested a record-breaking opening forDisney, and that’s becoming ever more plausible given the film’s recent pre-sale numbers.
Lilo & Stitchfollows an unbreakable bond formed by an orphaned Hawaiian young girl named Lilo and a dog-like alien, “Stitch” (Experiment 626), initially created for destruction. Original filmmaker Chris Sanders is involved in the project, though not as director this time—that honor belongs to Dean Fleischer Camp fromMarcel the Shell with Shoes On—he is simply reprising the iconic vocals for Stitch. In mid-April,Lilo & Stitch’searly box office tracking was unexpected: a strong $100 million-plus opening on Memorial Day weekend, despite debuting alongsideMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.
According to industry analystLuiz Fernando on X,two days ofLilo & Stitch’s pre-sales are aboveThe Little Mermaid, tripling those ofAladdin, quadruplingMufasa: The Lion King, and outperformingWonkaby over twelvefold—all Disney live-action adaptations. Such numbers not only setLilo & Stitchin a good spot to oustThe Little Mermaidas the second-biggest PG live-action opening post-Covid—only behindA Minecraft Movie—but also a place among Memorial Day’s top three biggest openers of all time.
Lilo & StitchWill Be Disney’s First Out-And-Out Success Story of 2025
It’s Been A Quiet Year So Far For The Studio
Lilo & Stitch’s early pre-sales at the U.S. box office are writing a Disney 2025 success story on the wall. The studio’s year hasn’t exactly blown minds.Captain America: Brave New Worldwas commercially modest, as isThunderbolts*despite solid reviews and pretty good numbers. Perhaps more importantly,Lilo & Stitch’s commercial outlook will liven Disney’s live-action ambitions afterthe disaster that wasSnow White; the movie has grossed a mere $202 million on a $250 million production budget and reportedly cost $115 million in losses. It needs reminding that pre-sales this early aren’t the sole criterion for box office success.Lilo & Stitch’s is thrice that ofA Minecraft Movie,but isn’t expected to touch the latter’s $162 million domestic debut. Still, a PG film being this impressive (PG Films are not known for heavy pre-sales) is very impressive.
There’s no one obvious factor for such high anticipation for a film—its 158 million views in 24 hours is the second best among Disney live-action trailers, behind 2019’sThe Lion King.Nostalgia is surely a culprit, as is the absolute cuteness of Stitch in both animation and live-action. But those still can’t explain whyLilo & Stitchwould come out the victor in a battle against a more established franchise likeTom Cruise’sMission: Impossible.
A path to billion-dollar glory isn’t out of the cards. 2019’s Memorial Day weekend sawAladdingross $119 million domestically, finishing with $356.6 million and $1.05 billion globally.Mufasa: The Lion Kingdebuted far lower: $35 million, but unexpected long legs saw it out to $254 million domestic and $722 million globally.Lilo & Stitchis very differentfrom both films. On paper, it neither has the popularity of both IPs nor the star power of Will Smith. But a $100 million opener combined withMufasa’s resilience is a recipe for a $1 billion finish.
