Stitch (voice of Chris Sanders) and Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”
Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning are both poised for big Memorial Day weekend takes at the box office, but Lilo & Stitch is project to emerge the winner at the end of the four-day holiday weekend.
Both films, of course, come from established properties. Lilo & Stitch is a live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated hit of the same name from 2002, and spawned a made-for-video sequel and TV series.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is the eighth and presumably final chapter — at least for Cruise — of the movie series adapted from the classic TV series that began in 1966. Cruise, in turn, kicked off the Mission: Impossible movie series in 1996, followed by sequels in 2000, 2006, 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2023.
Early tracking numbers from the data firm The National Research Group (via The Hollywood Reporter) on May 1 forecasted a $120 million four-day Memorial Day weekend opening for Lilo & Stitch and $80 million for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
In another long-range tracking report on May 2, Box Office Pro projected a $135 million to $165 million for Lilo & Stitch, and on April 25, the box office prognosticator pegged a $90 million to $100 million opening for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
Now, three weeks later, Variety is casting a wider net for Lilo & Stitch and projecting that the film will haul in $150 million to $160 million in its four-day holiday frame from 4,410 North American theaters. Variety also projects that the film will earn another $125 million in international ticket sales.
Variety’s four-day projection for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, meanwhile, falls more in line with early tracking numbers from TNRG, as the industry trade publication estimates the film will take in $75 million to $85 million in its opening.
Cruise’s espionage action thriller is also projected by Variety to earn $125 million to $130 million at the international box office in its opening weekend.
Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning.”
How Much Is At Stake For Lilo & Stitch And ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’?
Per Variety, Lilo & Stitch had a $100 million production budget and a $100 million worldwide spend on prints and advertising.
Plus, the PG film — which has a run time that’s an hour shorter than the PG-13 Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning — will benefit by squeezing more showings per day than its fellow box office newcomer.
In addition to Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning’s massive run time — it clocks in at 2 hours and 49 minutes — the film also had a $400 million budget before P&A, according to Variety.
That’s $100 million more than the production budget for 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 (the film was later rebranded without the Part 1).
Variety did note, however, that the pandemic, actors and writers’ strikes against the studios and rising inflation blew up Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’s final price tag.
Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning both play in Thursday previews and open in theaters worldwide on Friday.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2025/05/21/hefty-openings-projected-for-lilo–stitch-and-tom-cruises-mission/