Disney’s live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch continues to surprise at the box office and the hit movie is nearing a major milestone at the worldwide box office. The Disney film continues to exceed expectations at the box office, having opened with $146 million, well above the animated film’s $35 million opening back in 2002. More impressive, however, is that the live-action film is now just days away from crossing the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. A feat that only one other film has accomplished so far this year — Ne Zha 2 — with $1.899 billion worldwide.
The Disney remake opened at the end of May to $182.6 million over the Memorial holiday, with $146 million of that coming from the three-day weekend. Internationally, the film managed to do just as well, earning $178.6 million, giving the live action remake an impressive start of $361.2 million worldwide. For comparisons sake, the animated Lilo & Stitch only earned $274.7 million worldwide throughout its entire theatrical run. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, though, the new film managed to beat plenty of records in its opening weekend, including the top opening Memorial Day weekend of all time, second-biggest opening ever for any four-day holiday, and third-biggest opening ever for a Disney live-action reimagining.
Thus far, the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch has earned over $562 million internationally and over $412 million domestically. The film should officially cross the $1 billion mark sometime this week, with the movie currently expected to come in seventh place this weekend with an estimated $2.7 million. The only other film to get near $1 billion at the box office this year is A Minecraft Movie, which has earned an astounding $955 million at the worldwide box office before stalling out.
Lilo & Stitch‘s success has already earned a sequel announcement from Disney, with the studio confirming Lilo & Stitch 2 is coming, although a release date has not been announced. The movie follows the plot of the animated movie, focusing on a young Hawaiian girl named Lilo who befriends an alien, Stitch, who is on the run as she tries to mend her fragmented family.
The live-action Lilo & Stitch remake stars Maia Kealoha as Lilo, Sydney Agudong as Nani, Chris Sanders as the voice of Stitch, and Kaipo Dudoit as David. Sanders, of course, was one of the co-directors on the animated film, and also voiced Stitch in that iteration. The live-action film was directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, who had previously directed Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. It’s currently unclear if he’ll return to direct the forthcoming live-action sequel.
The original animated sequel, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, was released in 2005 and was a direct to video release. It never hit theaters and arrived at a time when Disney’s direct-to-video release method was still a popular release strategy. With the film not as widely regarded as the first film, it’s unclear whether or not Disney will take inspiration from the title when developing the sequel to its live-action Lilo & Stitch.
The live-action Lilo & Stitch is currently playing in theaters everywhere. The original animated film is available to stream now on Disney+.
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