by admin | Jun 20, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
Universal’ How to Train Your Dragon won the Juneteenth holiday box office race on Thursday with $9.7 million in ticket sales as it heads into its second weekend with an early domestic haul of nearly $125 million.
The live-action remake of DreamWorks Animation’s celebrated 2010 animated film is confident it will stay atop the chart in its sophomore outing despite the entry of two new summer event pics, Danny Boyle‘s 28 Years Later and Pixar’s Elio, both of which took advantage of the holiday by starting previews early in the day. (How to Train Your Dragon has a huge advantage in playing in Imax cinemas, and is eying bringing in another $35 million domestically this weekend.)
Boyle’s zombie sequel, from Sony, is reporting a preview gross of $5.8 million, enough to place second on Thursday — at least unofficially (previews grosses are ultimately folded into the opening-day gross, or in this instance, Friday’s haul). Sony is suggesting a weekend opening the $28 million to $30 million range, while tracking shows Boyle’s film coming in at $30 million or more.
So far, however, 28 Years Later, isn’t going over so well with audiences despite glowing reviews. Presently, the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score is 92 percent, while the audience score is only 69 percent.
28 Years Later — the first in a planned trilogy — reunites Boyle with writer Alex Garland 25 years after 28 Days hit big screen and became a cult classic. Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams and Ralph Fiennes star in the pic, which is set nearly three decades after the events of the first film.
Elio — an original film about a young boy whose wish to travel to outer space and interact with aliens comes true — earned $3 million from Thursday previews and select special access Wednesday screenings.
Tracking showed the animated film opening to $30 million in North America, although it is now eying an opening in the $20 million to $23 million. That means Pixar is braced for the movie suffering the worst three-day opening ever for the storied animation studio behind Elemental ($29.6 million) in June 2023 and its very first film, 1995’s Toy Story ($29.1 million), not adjusted for inflation. (Toy Story opened over Thanksgiving and amassed $39 million over the long five-day holiday weekend.)
At the time, Elemental‘s opening was called nothing short of a debacle, yet it turned into sleeper hit on its way to earning nearly $500 million globally. Pixar and parent company Disney are confident that Elio will have the same sort of staying power throughout the summer when kids are sprung from school. So far, Elio is graced with a better critics score on Rotten Tomatoes than Elemental. There’s not yet an audience score on RT.
Pixar has been struggling to find its footing in a world where original animated stories don’t open to the heights they once did — think north of $70 million — in the post-pandemic world. And during the pandemic years, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek decided to send three Pixar titles straight to Disney+ domestically, including Turning Red, Luca and the Oscar-winning Soul, a decision rivals said taught families to wait to watch a film at home. (All three were considered streaming hits.)
But Pixar and Disney reversed course and are once again committed to telling original theatrical stories, mixed in with known IP, such as last year’s blockbuster and record-shattering Inside Out 2, the top-grossing pic of 2024, the top ever title for Pixar and the top animated of all time with more than $1.69 billion in worldwide ticket sales, not adjusted for inflation.
June 20, 2:31 p.m.: Updated with the latest box office estimates.
by admin | Jun 17, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
Cinema admissions across Europe fell in 2024 despite a slight rise in overall box office revenue, according to the International Union of Cinemas’ (UNIC) 2025 annual report, released during the CineEurope convention in Barcelona on Tuesday.
Total admissions across the 39 European territories represented by UNIC reached 934.2 million in 2024, down 2.6 percent from the previous year. Box office revenue, at €7.1 billion ($8.2 billion), was up by the slimmest of margins, increasing 0.03 percent. The UNIC report cited “the lingering effects of the 2023 actors’ and writers’ strikes” as one of the main reasons for the sluggish performance.
Several European markets did record year-on-year growth, however, including France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece. France led the region with 181.5 million admissions, boosted by the performance of domestic hits A Little Something Extra, The Count of Monte-Cristo, and Beating Hearts, which together sold more than 25 million tickets.
Disney’s Inside Out 2, which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, was Europe’s top performer of 2024, setting new records for an animated film in Spain and Italy, and significantly driving theatrical admissions in Germany, the Netherlands, and Turkey, the report found. The Kelsey Mann-directed sequel topped the box office charts in most European territories last year, but there were a few exceptions. In France, A Little Something Extra and The Count of Monte-Cristo — the only two European titles to sell more than 10 million tickets across the region last year — pushed Inside Out 2 into the number 3 slot, and in Latvia, home-grown animation champ, the Oscar-winner Flow, outsold the Pixar blockbuster.
“The 2025 UNIC Annual Report makes abundantly clear that, despite the challenges it faced during the year, the European cinema sector continues to show strength and resilience, underpinned of course, by our audience’s desire to see films in their natural home, on the big screen,” said UNIC president Phil Clapp. “I look forward to seeing that positive story develop further as the film slate continues to strengthen across the end of the year and into 2026.”
European films claimed 32.8 percent of the EU market in 2024, up from 27.7 percent in 2023, reinforcing the sector’s dependence on national productions. France reached a 44.8 percent local market share, one of its highest on record. Finland’s national titles accounted for 30.4 percent of the market, the highest since 2017. Bulgaria reported a local share of 24.4 percent, triple its 2023 figure, driven by Gundi: Legend of Love, a biopic of footballer Georgi Asparuhov.
The UNIC report highlighted a strong start to 2025 with blockbuster returns for A Minecraft Movie, Lilo & Stitch, and Sinners, as well as European features such as Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, and Paddington in Peru. Promising releases set for the second half of the year include sequels Jurassic World: Rebirth, Wicked: For Good, Zootopia 2, and Avatar: Fire and Ash.
In its April 2025 forecast, theatrical analysts Gower Street raised its global box office projection for the year to $34.1 billion, up from $33.0 billion forecasted in December 2024.
by admin | Jun 8, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
Disney’s Lilo & Stitch is dancing circles around From the World of John Wick: Ballerina at the domestic box office.
Lilo topped the North American chart for the third consecutive weekend with an estimated $32.5 million from 4,185 theaters after clearing the $300 million milestone on Thursday. Through Sunday, the live-action blockbuster’s global haul is an estimated $772.6 million, including $335.8 million domestically and $436.8 million overseas.
Ballerina, the first John Wick spinoff, opened in second place with a softer-than-expected $25 million from 3,409 venues, the lowest start of any title in the series except for the first John Wick in 2014. Ana de Armas plays the title role in the R-rated action pic, with main franchise star Keanu Reeves also making an appearance.
Three weeks ago, Ballerina was tracking to open to $35 million or more. Projections were lowered to $30 million-plus heading into the weekend and even further.
The good news: Ballerina nabbed an A- CinemaScore and strong audience scores, both on Rotten Tomatoes (94 percent) and PostTrak, so it could regain its step and have long legs. Lionsgate decided to bank big on its John Wick universe after seeing each subsequent film open to bigger numbers, an almost unheard-of feat. That is, until now. Since Ballerina is a spinoff, expectations were always going to be different, but not to this degree. Lionsgate was looking for it to at least match John Wick: Chapter 2‘s $30.4 million opening in 2017, not adjusted for inflation.
So far, Ballerina is playing decidedly male, or 63 percent, according to PostTrak. Lionsgate and Thunder Road Films / 87Eleven Entertainment say they covered a notable chunk of the $90 million production budget with foreign sales.
Set during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the film follows Eve Macarro (de Armas), who is beginning her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma. Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno and Norman Reedus co-star, with Ian McShane and Reeves also turning up.
Directed by Len Wiseman from a script from Shay Hatten, Ballerina is based on characters by Derek Kolstad.
There’s plenty of competition when it comes to male-skewing action fare, led by Paramount and Skydance’s Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, which, like Lilo & Stitch, is enjoying a strong hold in its third outing (the two event titles opened opened opposite each other over Memorial Day weekend to fuel a record holiday).
Final Reckoning, marking Tom Cruise’s final turn as spy-with-the-mostest Ethan Hunt, placed third with an estimated $15 million from 3,456 locations for a domestic tally of $149.2 million. Overseas, where it is pulling in even bigger numbers, it earned another $40.7 million for an international haul of $301.2 million and $450.4 million globally.
After a softer-than-expected debut last weekend, Sony’s Karate Kid: Legends fell off 57 percent or more in its sophomore outing to $8.7 million from 3,859 sites for a muted domestic tally of $35.4 million through Sunday.
New Line’s Final Destination: Bloodlines, now in its fourth weekend, rounded out the top five with $6.5 million from 3,867 cinemas for a domestic tally of $123.6 million, followed by the nationwide expansion of Wes Anderson’s latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, into a total of 1,678 theaters.
From Focus Features and Indian Paintbrush, Phoenician Scheme is projecting a $6.3 million weekend for a 10-day cume of $7 million after opening in its first six locations last weekend (it scored the top per-location average of the year to date, of $95,000).
A24’s horror pic Bring Her back finished in seventh place in its second weekend with an estimated $3.5 million from 2,467 theaters for a domestic cume of $14.1 million, followed by GKIDS’ new offering, Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye, with $3.1 million from 2,435 cinemas.
June 8, 7:35 a.m.: Updated with revised estimates.
This story was originally published June 7 at 8:55 a.m.
by admin | Jun 1, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
While its fate isn’t yet sealed, Karate Kid: Legends opened behind expectations at the domestic box office, despite teaming original star Ralph Macchio and beloved action legend Jackie Chan, who starred in the 2010 redux.
Sony is estimating a third-place North American opening of $21 million from 3,809 theaters for the male-fueled film (rival studios show it coming in closer to $20 million). Heading into the weekend, tracking had the pic debuting to $25 million; three weeks ago, that number was a far more promising $35 million. Overseas, where it began rolling out early, Legends took in another $12 million for an early foreign tally of $26 million and $47 million globally (it has only opened in 40 percent of the marketplace).
Regardless of a soft opening, Sony remains confident that the PG-13 film will sport strong chops, thanks to an A- CinemaScore and solid exits. And its net production budget was a modest $45 million before marketing.
Critics are far more divided than audiences when it comes to Karate Kid: Legends, which features Ben Wang in the titular role. His character is mentored by both the characters played by Macchio, star of the classic 1984 movie and, far more recently, Netflix’s acclaimed Cobra Kai series, which ran for six seasons and ended earlier this year.
In 2010, Sony successfully reinvigorated the franchise with The Karate Kid, starring Chan opposite Jaden Smith. The movie, opening to $55 million domestically, was one of the year’s top hits.
Box office pundits are already speculating that franchise fans may have been sated by Cobra Kai, at least for the time being. The series was viewed as a sequel to the first three films; the threequel was released in 1989. They add that middling reviews for Legends certainly aren’t helping.
And then there’s the Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible factor. Both movies continued to do strong business in their second outings after fueling a record Memorial Day weekend.
Lilo & Stitch — which has shattered numerous records and is likely to become the first Hollywood movie of 2025 to join the billion-dollar box office club — continues to exceed all expectations. It remained No. 1 this weekend both domestically and overseas as it zoomed past the $610 million mark globally after grossing another $63 million domestically from 4,410 locations and $113.1 million overseas.
In less than two weeks, the pic has already become the second top-grossing Hollywood release of 2025 behind Warner Bros.’ A Minecraft Movie ($947.1 million). Ditto for North America, where it has now passed up Ryan Coogler’s sleeper hit Sinners ($350.1 million).
The live-action update of the 2002 animated film has also played a key role in helping Disney become the first Hollywood studio of 2025 to cross the $2 billion mark in worldwide ticket sales, including $1 billion domestically.
Paramount and Skydance’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, starring Tom Cruise in his final turn as uber spy Ethan Hunt, remained squarely in second place with an estimated sophomore outing of $27.2 million from 3,861 theaters for a 10-day North American tally of $122 million. Final Reckoning is benefiting greatly from its exclusive Imax run.
Overseas, the Christopher McQuarrie-directed pic earned another $76.1 million for an international cume of $231.2 million and $353.8 million globally. M:I has always done big business in China, and Final Reckoning is no exception, even if returns from the Chinese box office are far less than what they used to be. The movie, debuting there Friday, opened to a stellar $25.2 million and scored the top-opening day of the year among Hollywood titles.
In its third outing, Warner/New Line’s Final Destination: Bloodlines came in fourth domestically with $10.8 million from 3,134 locations for a North American total of $111.7 million and $229.3 million worldwide.
Karate Kid wasn’t the only new nationwide offering. Danny and Michael Philippou’s highly anticipated horror pic Bring Her Back, from A24 and starring Sally Hawkins, rounded out the top five with an estimated $7.1 million from 2,449 cinemas. The critically acclaimed film was graced with a B+ CinemaScore from audiences, which is like an A when it comes to the horror genre. Overseas, where Sony is assisting in releasing, it earned $1 million from its first eight markets.
At the specialty box office, Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme opened in six locations domestically and secured the top per-location average of the year to date, or $95,000, following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Focus Features and Indian Paintbrush partnered on the film, whose ensemble cast is led by Benicio del Toro, and sports an early international total of $6.2 million and $6.8 million globally.
This story was originally published May 31 at 10:38 a.m.
by admin | May 28, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
Talk about threading the needle perfectly.
A week ago, no one could have imagined that Disney’s live-action reimagining Lilo & Stitch would make box office history and open to a record-breaking $182.6 million during the four-day Memorial Day weekend, including $146 million for the three days. Overseas, the live-action redux of the 2002 animated film about a Hawaiian girl and mischievous, dog-like alien also exceeded all expectations in starting off with $178.6 million for a global start of $361.2 million against a net budget of $100 million.
The pic is adding another milestone to its list today as it crosses the $400 million mark globally, including $200 million domestically in its sixth day in release — more than the total lifetime runs of some live-action Disney reimaginings. It’s already out-grossed the entire $273.1 million global of run of 2002’s animated Lilo & Stitch, not adjusted for inflation. To boot, it’s pacing ahead of Warner Bros.’ blockbuster A Minecraft Movie, at least in North America. In its sixth day in release, Minecraft had earned $193.2 million domestically.
One would be hard-pressed to find another movie like Lilo & Stitch. Three weeks ahead of its release, it was tracking to open to $120 million domestically. A week later, it was a $145 million, followed by $165 million on the eve of the film’s May 23 U.S. debut. Almost no one can think of a similar title popping like that, perhaps because few realized that Lilo & Stitch isn’t just a kids film. Non-families made up 57 percent of the opening weekend audience, underscoring that the property is hallowed IP for Gen Zers and younger millennials, or “zillennials.”
When a PG-rated family film can attract general audiences, it’s a recipe for magic. A Minecraft Movie, the top-grossing movie of the year to date, is another example. Ditto for A Super Mario Bros. Movie and Wicked, or Disney’s Aladdin.
Below are the records and other notable feats Lilo & Stitch has achieved, not adjusted for inflation.
Top Memorial Day Opening of All Time
Tom Cruise knew there was no way Mission: Impossible was going to beat Lilo & Stitch, but he likely didn’t expect an adorable alien creature to unseat his 2022 feature Top Gun: Maverick ($160.5 million) as the biggest Memorial Day opener of all time. Other top Memorial Day earners include Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($139.8 million), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($127 million) and X-Men: The Last Stand ($122.9 million).
Second-Biggest Opening Ever for Any Four-Day Holiday
In North America, Lilo also boasts the second-biggest gross of all time for any four-day holiday weekend, behind the $242 million historic opening of Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther over Presidents Day weekend in 2018. The top Martin Luther King Jr. holiday opening belongs to 2020’s Bad Boys for Life ($73 million), while 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the Labor Day crown holder ($94.7 million).
Third-Biggest Opening Ever for a Disney Live-Action Reimagining
The only two titles to open higher were 2019’s The Lion King, which remains ruler of the pride with a $192 million start domestic start, followed by 2017’s Beauty and the Beast with $175 million domestically. Again, it’s the three-day number that determines the order. Without that industry rule, Lilo would be the second-biggest opening ever for a Disney live-action pic. Either way, it is only the fifth live-action reimagining to open to north of $100 million domestically. The other two were 2010’s Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million) and 2016’s The Jungle Book ($103.3 million). And globally, Lilo has already out-grossed the entire runs of 2025 debacle Snow White ($204.2 million), 2016’s Alice Through the Looking Glass ($299.5 million) and 2019’s Dumbo ($353.3 million).
Fifth-Biggest Monday of All Time Domestically
On Memorial Day, Lilo & Stitch delivered one of the biggest grosses of all time for a Monday, with $36.6 million in ticket sales. That puts the movie in rarefied air, considering the top earners are 2018’s Black Panther ($40.2 million), 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($40.1 million), 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($37.1 million) and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame ($36.9 million). Lilo took the spot previously held by Top Gun: Maverick ($33.8 million).
Second-Best Domestic Opening of the Year So Far
Since box office openings officially are ranked by the three-day weekend number, Minecraft still sports the top domestic start of the year to date. Lilo‘s three-day gross was $146 million. A Minecraft Movie, which debuted to $162 million, presently sits at $940.7 million globally. It’s unlikely to become the first Hollywood title of 2025 to join the $1 billion box office club. Could that be a feat for Lilo & Stitch?
Biggest Disney Live-Action Opening Ever Across Latin America
Lilo & Stitch wowed across Latin America to seize the highest opening ever for a Disney live-action remake. Mexico led all markets with $27 million, while the third top market was Brazil with $12.2 million. Europe was also strong, where the U.K. led with $17 million. It’s overall international start of $178.6 million is the fourth-biggest ever for Disney live-action.
Seventh-Best Opening of All Time for Any PG Title
Not bad. Lilo & Stitch joins the top 10 list of biggest openings for a PG title. Disney’s film empire lays claim to eight of those, led by The Lion King, 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($182.7 million) and Beauty and the Beast. Warners’ Minecraft movie follows in fourth place. Then it’s back to Disney with 2024’s Inside Out 2 ($154.2 million), and followed by Universal’s 2023 hit The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($146.6 million). Next up is Lilo with $146 million, followed three other Disney releases: 2024’s Moana 2 ($140 million), 2016’s Finding Dory ($135 million) and 2019’s Frozen II ($130 million).
‘Lilo & Stitch’ and ‘Mission: Impossible’ Fuel Biggest Memorial Day Picnic of All Time
Disney’s live-action redo and Tom Cruise‘s final Mission: Impossible movie fueled the biggest start-of-summer holiday weekend of all time. Combined ticket sales for all films cleared nearly $330 million. The previous best Memorial Day frame in terms of overall revenue belonged to the $306 million in ticket sales collected in 2013 when Fast & Furious 6 zoomed to $117 million, followed by The Hangover Part III with $50 million.
by admin | May 27, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
Stichin: Mission!
Disney’s live-action redo of Lilo & Stitch and Tom Cruise’s final Mission: Impossible movie, from Paramount and Skydance, fueled the biggest Memorial Day weekend of all time as attendance skyrocketed across all demos.
Lilo & Stitch blew away all expectations with a record-smashing, four-day domestic debut of $192.7 million, and a jaw-dropping $361.3 million globally, while Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning opened to a series-best $79 million domestically and a franchise-high $191 million globally, according to weekend actuals (M:I’s final domestic tally was up from Sunday’s estimate of $77.5 million). The numbers include a three-day weekend gross of $145.5 million for Lilo and $64 million for Final Reckoning. On Memorial Day itself, Lilo earned a near-record $37 million.
The previous best Memorial Day frame in terms of overall revenue belonged to the $306 million in ticket sales collected in 2013 when Fast & Furious 6 zoomed to $117 million, followed by The Hangover Part III with $50 million. This year also marked the best showing for two Memorial Day titles going up against each other. In 2007, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End opened to $140 million over the holiday frame, followed by Shrek the Third with $67 million.
While the mashup isn’t quite the same cultural phenomenon that Barbenheimer was in July 2023, the potent combo of the two movies can’t be ignored in terms of conquering and dividing.
The female-fueled Lilo was always expected to beat the latest male-driven M:I title, but no one imagined it would hit these heights and, in an ironic twist, see Lilo & Stitch supplant Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick ($160 million) to rank as the biggest Memorial Day opener of all time, not adjusted for inflation. That’s not the only irony: Cruise-starring and Steven Spielberg-directed The Minority Report was in a dead heat with the original animated Lilo & Stitch when they opened opposite each other in June 2002. Minority Report prevailed by a hair.
In North America, Lilo also zoomed to the second-biggest gross of all time for any four-day holiday weekend behind the $242 million opening of Marvel and Disney’s Black Panther and the third-biggest debut ever for a Disney live-action title, both domestically and globally, behind Beauty and the Beast and crown holder The Lion King, not adjusted for inflation. The film also pushed Disney passed $2 billion in worldwide ticket sales, the first studio to do so this year.
Three weeks ago, Lilo & Stitch was tracking to open to $120 million. On Thursday, that number had grown to $165 million. Then it came in even higher. The reason? Thank members of Gen Z and millennials, which, together, cover age groups 13 to 44. (Millennials 35 and under were more interested than their older counterparts.)
Stitch isn’t just drawing interest from families; to the contrary, 56 percent of ticket buyers were non-parents and kids, far higher than the norm, according to PostTrak. Interest exploded among teenage girls and younger women adults, who grew up on the first movie and resulting TV and streaming shows about a Hawaiian girl with a fraught family life who adopts an adorable, albeit trouble-making, dog-like alien. Box office pundits say the nostalgia factor ran red hot, just as it did among millennials and Gen Zers for Disney’s live-action Aladdin, which made $1.1 billion in global ticket sales after getting non-families. Rideback produced both Lilo and 2019’s Aladdin.
It is also playing to a notably diverse audience. Latinos, the most frequent moviegoers in the U.S., made up 33 percent of ticket buyers, while the film scored the biggest opening ever for a live-action Disney reimagining across Latin America.
Both films benefited from strong scores from critics and glowing audience exits, including five out of five stars from moviegoers polled by industry-leading service PostTrak. Lilo has a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 70 percent and nabbed an A CinemaScore from audiences.
Final Reckoning — which had a lock on Imax screens — more than made up for the lackluster $54.7 million five-day bow of Dead Reckoning, as well as supplanting the $61.2 million three-day launch of Fallout to set a new franchise opening record. M:I movies have never been big openers since diehard fans are usually older adults, and particularly older males. Ticket buyers over the age of 55 made up the largest chunk of the holiday weekend audience (a whopping 54 percent), followed by the coveted 18 to 24 demo at 18 percent, according to PostTrak. Cruise’s film, directed by his go-to partner Christopher McQuarrie, boasts a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 80 percent and earned an A- CinemaScore. Imax theaters generated a franchise-record $30.1 million to the global pot; McQuarrie relied heavily on Imax cameras when making the movie.
“This weekend was one for the history books! Congratulations to every filmmaker, every artist, every crew member and every single person who works at the studios,” Cruise wrote early Tuesday morning on social media. (The actor-producer has become something of a theatrical ambassador since the pandemic and is generous about promoting other films. He also thanked Paramount and David Ellison’s Skydance, which is being stymied in its bid to buy Paramount Global because of a tussle with the Trump administration over a CBS News story. “And, most of all, THANK YOU to audiences everywhere — for whom we all serve and for all whom we all love to entertain.”
Added Paramount domestic chief of distribution Chris Aronson: “Mission accomplished. “This is a remarkable result for the eighth title in a franchise that’s 30 years in the making.”
But a major challenge in terms of Final Reckoning‘s financial success is its $400 million net budget before marketing — making it one of the most expensive films ever made — although Paramount insiders note that each new installment increases the value of the entire library, including a spike in home entertainment sales and rentals of previous titles. Conversely, Lilo & Stitch cost a net $100 million to make.
Overseas, Lilo & Stitch likewise beat M:I with stellar $178.6 million opening versus $127 million for Final Reckoning (since it isn’t a holiday offshore, those numbers are through Sunday). For Lilo, Mexico led with $27 million, followed by the U.K. ($17 million), Brazil ($12.2 million) and China ($9.5 million). The pic is softer in Southeast Asia, where M:I is picking up the slack. Conversely, M:I is soft in Latin America.
The M:I movie began rolling out in a handful of major markets, albeit it via previews, last weekend for a foreign tally of $191 million through Sunday and $204.5 million through Sunday. Top markets to date include South Korea, where it has amassed $12.7 million. This weekend’s tally was around $5 million, according to the country’s box office reporting system. Japan follows with $11 million, including last weekend’s unspecified previews, the U.K. ($10.7 million) and India, ($9 million including previews).
