“Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning” have once again risen to the top of the box office charts following a historic Memorial Day weekend. U.S. and Canadian theaters are offering a variety of new films this weekend, including Sony’s family-friendly “Karate Kid: Legends” and the A24 horror flick “Bring Her Back.” Based on Sunday studio estimates, the cumulative total amounts to a strong post-holiday weekend of $149 million, an impressive 120% surge from the comparable time period last year.
Disney’s live-action hybrid, “Lilo & Stitch,” maintained its top position by earning $63 million from 4,410 North American locations. This brings its domestic ticket sales to $280.1 million, enabling it to surpass “Sinners” as the second highest-grossing movie of the year. Its global earnings now stand at $610.8 million. Meanwhile, “Sinners” continued its strong performance in its seventh weekend, earning an additional $5.2 million, which increases its domestic total to $267.1 million and its worldwide total to $350.1 million.
The eighth installment in the “Mission: Impossible” series also held its position by generating $27.3 million from 3,861 locations. Although there’s a 57% drop in comparison to its opening, the film has accumulated $122.6 million in domestic tickets sales, consistent with its last two installments. Despite this, reaching profitability will take some time, given its reported $400 million production cost. Internationally, it gained an extra $76.1 million, which includes $25.2 million from China, totaling its global earnings to $353.8 million.
As per Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s senior media analyst, “This is the year of long-term playability,” underscoring the value of positive word-of-mouth and sustained ticket sales over initial opening weekend revenues.
The new releases were led by Sony’s “Karate Kid: Legends,” which accumulated an estimated $21 million from 3,809 locations. The film reunites Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio to mentor a new karate prodigy, Li Fong, portrayed by Ben Wang. While reviews may have been varied, the PG-13 film earned a solid A- CinemaScore from audiences, paired with 4.5 stars on PostTrak. Produced for a relatively modest $45 million, the film enjoys an advantageous release window with little competition from similar family-oriented films in the near future. Internationally, “Karate Kid: Legends” has generated $47 million worldwide thus far.
Claiming fourth place is “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” which garnered $10.8 million in its third weekend—making it the highest-grossing movie in its franchise when not adjusted for inflation, with a global total of $229.3 million.
Rounding out the top five is “Bring Her Back,” a horror movie starring Sally Hawkins as a foster mother with sinister intentions, directed by twins Danny and Michael Philippou. The film made $7.1 million from 2,449 screens and is the directors’ follow-up to the 2023 horror hit “Talk to Me.” Currently, the film holds a rare B+ CinemaScore for the horror genre and is one of the few new entries in this category until the release of “28 Years Later” on June 20.
Wes Anderson’s latest creation, “The Phoenician Scheme,” had a limited debut in New York and Los Angeles, grossing $270,000 and will expand to more areas next weekend.
The summer box office outlook remains optimistic, although considerable ground must be covered to achieve the $4 billion benchmark—a standard met only by the “Barbenheimer” summer post-pandemic. Estimates suggest that May will end with around $973 million—a surge of 75% from May 2024, based on Comscore data.
In terms of the top ten domestic movies, here are estimates for ticket sales between Friday and Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, as compiled by Comscore:
1. “Lilo & Stitch,” $63 million.
2. “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” $27.3 million.
3. “Karate Kid: Legends,” $21 million.
4. “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” $10.8 million.
5. “Bring Her Back,” $7.1 million.
6. “Sinners,” $5.2 million.
7. “Thunderbolts,” $4.8 million.
8. “Friendship,” $2.6 million.
9. “The Last Rodeo,” $2.1 million.
10. “j-hope Tour ‘HOPE ON THE STAGE’ in JAPAN: LIVE VIEWING,” $939,173.