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).
by admin | May 22, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
Marvel Studios’ marquee team of heroes need a bit more time to reassemble.
Avengers: Doomsday is pushing back its release date in theaters from May 1, 2026 to Dec. 18, 2026, while Avengers: Secret Wars will now open Dec. 17, 2027 instead of May 7, 2027.
Disney, however, isn’t giving up the coveted start-of-summer-slot in 2026 and has set 20th Century’s The Devil Wears Prada 2 to take Doomsday‘s date and open May 1.
During a nearly five-and-a-half hour livestream in late March, Marvel Studios began unveiling its cast for Avengers: Doomsday, revealing a mix of Marvel Cinematic Universe mainstays as well as actors from 20th Century Fox’s now-defunct X-Men universe and upcoming stars of Fantastic Four: First Steps. Notable names missing from the roll call included Tom Holland (Spider-Man) and Chris Evans (Captain America), the latter of whom is expected to appear in at least one of the two-part movies.
Additionally, a number of characters from Thunderbolts* will also be featured in the upcoming Avengers movies.
Insiders say Doomsday and Secret Wars are two of the biggest titles Marvel has ever made, and the date shifts help the production schedules (Doomsday is shooting). Marvel has learned the hard way what can happen when rushing things.
The December date has been kind to Marvel; that’s when Sony’s blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home debuted.
In other release news, Disney and 20th Century announced they will open Ridley Scott’s star-studded apocalyptic thriller The Dog Stars on March 27, 2026.
by admin | May 22, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
July Fourth fireworks are coming early to the summer box office, thanks to the combo of Disney’s live-action redo of Lilo & Stitch and Tom Cruise’s final Mission: Impossible movie from Paramount and Skydance.
The two tentpoles are expected to fuel the biggest Memorial Day of all time in terms of ticket sales and set numerous records in their own right. While the mash-up isn’t expected to be quite the same cultural phenomenon that Barbenheimer was, the potent combo of the two movies can’t be ignored. Parents may take their kids to see Lilo one day, then ditch them and go see Mission sometime else over the long holiday weekend (as for a moniker, how about “Stitchin: Impossible”).
The overall Memorial Day revenue crown currently belongs 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. It would also mark 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.
There’s more: The biggest headline of Thursday’s latest tracking report from the National Research Group was Lilo & Stitch. Three weeks ago, NRG’s four-day opening number was $120 million. Now, it’s $165 million, a jaw-dropping gross that would, in an ironic twist, see Lilo & Stitch supplant Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick ($160 million) as the biggest Memorial Day opener of all time, not adjusted for inflation.
The news got even better for Disney and production company Rideback as early grosses began coming in from Thursday previews and Friday matinees — the PG pic is now projected to collect a massive $170 million to $180 million domestically, including a record $14.5 million in Thursday previews.
Lilo & Stitch isn’t just drawing interest from families; it’s popping big time among teenage girls and younger women — i.e., Gen Z and younger Millennials — who grew up on the first 2002 movie and resulting TV show about a Hawaiian girl with a fraught family life who adopts an adorable, albeit trouble-making, dog-like alien. Box office pundits say the nostalgic factor is running high, just as it did among Millennials and Gen Z’ers for the live-action Aladdin, which made $1.1 billion in global ticket sales after getting families, teens and younger adults.
The live-action Lilo & Stitch — originally intended to go straight to Disney+, helping to explain its modest $100 million production budget — would mark one of the better openings for a Disney live-action film. It has a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 72 percent.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, with a current RT critics score of 79 percent, is on course to open to $78 million for the four days, in line with tracking. That would more than make up for the lackluster $54.7 million bow of the previous film in the series, as well as supplant the $61.2 million three-day launch of Mission: Impossible — Fallout to set a new franchise opening record.
Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie went back to the drawing board after Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One disappointed and, among other changes, renamed the film. Their efforts appear to be paying off if tracking is correct. Final Reckoning resonates with its older male target audience in a major way, as well as among older females and younger males (the only quadrant who isn’t so interested are younger females).
A big challenge in terms of the film’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.
The two films will kick off what’s expected to be a stellar June in terms of ticket sales. Hollywood got even more good news on Thursday when early tracking confirmed that Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s live-action How to Train Your Dragon is eyeing a $72 million domestic debut.
May 23, 4 p.m. Updated with early box office returns.
