Disney Just Obtained Schooled By Its Personal Alien—and Everybody’s Watching
Lilo & Stitch simply did what no blue alien has achieved earlier than—pulled a $180 million home haul over Memorial Day and obliterated the field workplace like Stitch on a caffeine bender. This wasn’t only a win. It was a correction. A cosmic one. The sort that slaps execs throughout the face with the again of their very own branded merch.
This remake wasn’t even imagined to hit theaters. Like Moana 2, it was set for a quiet Disney+ debut till somebody upstairs lastly remembered that, oh yeah—folks nonetheless like motion pictures in theaters. Cue the last-minute pivot. Cue the chaos. Cue the cash.
And Hollywood? It’s foaming on the mouth.
Why This Modifications All the pieces (Or Ought to)
Let’s speak numbers. As a result of they’re disgusting—in one of the best ways.
$183 million home. $341.7 million international. In three and a half days.
The unique 2002 Lilo & Stitch? Topped out at $273.1M over its whole run.
Additionally, this:
It now holds the largest Memorial Day opening in historical past—beating High Gun: Maverick. Tom Cruise is someplace in a hangar whispering, “What the hell simply occurred?”
And but, the craziest half is not how a lot cash it made—it is how shut it got here to by no means making a dime. Disney was totally ready to stuff this remake into the algorithm abyss. Like a Netflix unique however with ears.
As a substitute, it outgrossed the entire field workplace of Snow White (the remake Disney did hype) in 72 hours.
That is not simply irony—it is company malpractice.
The Hidden Story: A Stitch in Time Saves Disney
Reside-action remakes aren’t new. Hell, they’re virtually Disney’s faith at this level. However Lilo & Stitch is not just like the others. It’s weirder. Sadder. Set in Hawai’i with out the colonial fantasy sheen. And in contrast to The Little Mermaid or Aladdin, it did not lean on legacy actors or hit songs—simply emotional depth and pure visible chaos.
The end result? Not solely did it open stronger than The Jungle E book, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid, it is now respiratory down the neck of Magnificence and the Beast and The Lion King. The billion-dollar membership is beckoning.
Certain, critics are lukewarm (69% on Rotten Tomatoes), however audiences? A 94% viewers rating. That is “Verified Sizzling” on Rotten Tomatoes, and warmer than half of 2025’s summer time slate. A Disney rep allegedly instructed Selection, “We knew it will carry out.” Translation: “We had no concept.”
In the meantime, different studios are squirming. Mission: Unattainable – The Closing Reckoning pulled in a franchise-best $75M… however nonetheless received left within the sand. Closing Vacation spot: Bloodlines tanked 63% from final week. A24’s Friendship scored a modest indie win, however this weekend belonged to a genetically engineered koala-rat who eats all the things and breaks legal guidelines of physics.
This is not a fluke. It’s a reckoning.
Choose a Facet: Nostalgia Machine or Field Workplace God?
So now what? Disney may take the unsuitable lesson (once more) and greenlight Bambi: The Vengeance Years. Or possibly—simply possibly—it’s going to notice that giving a rattling about storytelling and theatrical releases is a greater funding than one other half-baked straight-to-streaming catastrophe.
As a result of this is the uncomfortable reality: Lilo & Stitch did not succeed despite being bizarre—it thrived due to it. It’s E.T. with an espresso shot. A TikTok fever dream wrapped in discovered household trauma.
And also you both cherished each second—or questioned why Stitch feels like a gremlin who ate a kazoo.
Both method, it made you care.
