Summer blockbuster season is finally here, and 2025 will kick things off with Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. One is another live-action adaptation of a beloved Disney animated movie, while the other is the supposed end of the line for Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt.
Thursday preview screenings took place yesterday evening, and Deadline has just shared some early numbers. Lilo & Stitch reportedly made around $14 million, though the trade expects that figure to rise by the time confirmed figures land later today.
Current weekend estimates point to a $150 million four-day Memorial Day opening weekend for the $100 million Disney movie.
While Experiment 626 looks set to make short work of Cruise's iconic IMF agent, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is still eyeing a franchise-best $8 million from previews. Paramount Pictures dropped the original Dead Reckoning Part Two subtitle for a more definitive moniker that has clearly helped increase interest in the movie.
Tom Cruise reportedly wasn't happy, but the studio needed to do something to recoup a reported $400 million production budget. Now, it's set its sights on a $75 million - $85 million debut, easily beating Mission: Impossible - Fallout's $61 million haul in 2018.
How Karate Kid: Legends will fare against these two blockbusters next weekend is hard to say, but June is shaping up to be a busy month. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, How to Train Your Dragon, 28 Years Later, Elio, F1: The Movie, and M3GAN 2.0 are all on the way, alongside other smaller releases.
July promises to be the biggest month of 2025, as Jurassic World Rebirth, Superman, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps battle for dominance.
Asked during a recent carpet interview whether this Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is the end of the line, Cruise said, "They don't call it final for nothing. For me, it's never goodbye. It's like, 'We'll see you again.' Do you know what I mean? It's like we're there, and I just have a lot of joy in making the movie."
“I actually said I am going to make movies into my 80s; actually, I am going to make them into my 100s. I will never stop," he added. "I will never stop doing action, I will never stop doing drama, comedy films, I am excited."
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is currently "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes with 80%. Lilo & Stitch holds a 72% score.
Lilo & Stitch is the wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family. Our lives are the sum of our choices. Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.
Which of these movies will you be watching in theaters this Memorial Day weekend?