*Courtesy of Disney / Paramount Pictures.*

The Memorial Day weekend box office is off to a roaring start — even before the holiday officially begins — thanks to two major studio releases: Disney’s live-action ‘Lilo & Stitch’ and the final ‘Mission: Impossible’ installment starring Tom Cruise, from Paramount and Skydance.

Disney's ‘Lilo & Stitch’ surged with a massive $14.5 million in Thursday previews, making it the biggest preview haul of the year so far and setting a new Memorial Day record for Disney’s live-action releases. It surpassed preview earnings for ‘The Little Mermaid’ ($10.3 million) and ‘Aladdin’ ($7 million), and even topped ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ ($14.1 million), when not adjusting for inflation. It also ranks as the seventh-highest preview total for any PG-rated film, outpacing the recent animated hit ‘Moana 2’ ($13.8 million).

Originally projected to open at $120 million, ‘Lilo & Stitch’ is now tracking toward an eye-popping $165 million debut. If that holds, it would dethrone Cruise’s own ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ ($160 million) as the biggest Memorial Day opening ever, unadjusted for inflation. There’s a layer of irony here: Cruise’s ‘Minority Report’ narrowly beat the original animated ‘Lilo & Stitch’ when both opened in June 2022.

The film's appeal extends beyond families. It’s generating strong turnout among Gen Z and younger Millennials who grew up with the beloved original film and its spin-off TV series. Analysts say nostalgia is fueling its success, similar to what happened with 2019’s ‘Aladdin,’ which also pulled in over $1 billion globally. Both films were produced by Rideback.

Interestingly, ‘Lilo & Stitch’ was initially intended for a Disney+ release, which partially explains its relatively modest $100 million production budget. It currently holds a 72% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, with a strong 93% audience rating—matched by ‘Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning.’

Final Reckoning also made waves in previews, pulling in a franchise-best $8.3 million. That figure eclipses preview earnings for ‘Dead Reckoning Part One’ ($7 million) and ‘Fallout’ ($6 million). The film’s Rotten Tomatoes critics score sits at a solid 80% while the audience score sits at 92%, and it's projected to outdo the $54.7 million opening of ‘Dead Reckoning’ and the $61.2 million launch of ‘Fallout,’ setting a new high-water mark for the franchise.

However, Final Reckoning’s financial success will hinge on its massive $400 million net budget — excluding marketing — making it one of the most expensive films ever produced. Still, Paramount insiders point out that each installment lifts the overall value of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ library, spurring sales and rentals of earlier titles.

Together, these two blockbusters are expected to deliver the biggest Memorial Day weekend box office on record. While the cultural impact may not match 2023’s ‘Barbenheimer’ sensation, the double punch of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ and ‘Final Reckoning’ is hard to ignore (some are playfully calling it ‘Stitchin: Impossible’).

Internationally, ‘Lilo & Stitch’ is off to a strong start, pulling in $26.7 million from 41 early-release markets. It posted the highest opening day of the year in countries including China, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, and Italy. Paramount has yet to release global numbers for ‘Final Reckoning.’

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