This past Memorial Day weekend was one for the record books as Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” went up against Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” at the box office. Overall, the films helped collectively set a new record for the holiday, though it was “Lilo & Stitch” that won the day with a global box office take exceeding $300 million in a single weekend. Amazingly enough, though, this isn’t the first time that Cruise battled the duo that is Lilo and Stitch at the box office, with the first match-up having shaken out quite differently.
In the summer of 2002, Cruise was heading up Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi film “Minority Report,” an adaptation of author Philip K. Dick’s “The Minority Report.” It was one of the most-anticipated movies of the summer and had a prime June release date on the calendar. Disney, meanwhile, had a new original 2D animated feature coming down the pipeline in the form of (you guessed it!) “Lilo & Stitch.” Directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, it too was due to hit theaters in June on the very same day as this big-budget Cruise/Spielberg team-up.
“Minority Report” and “Lilo & Stitch” both reached theaters on June 21, 2002. In addition to being bolstered by very positive reviews, the movies also benefitted from the fact they were targeting decidedly different audiences. Mind you, the general moviegoing landscape was far removed from the one we know today. At the time, “Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones” was in its sixth weekend of release, while Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” had become the first movie to gross over $100 million in a single weekend stateside merely eight weeks earlier, just to provide some context.
What resulted was one of the closest battles for a number one movie at the box office we’ve ever seen. Ultimately, though, it was Cruise and Spielberg who would win the day against Disney’s charming, family-friendly offering.
Tom Cruise won the first box office showdown with Lilo & Stitch
“Minority Report” opened on 3,001 screens in North America and opened to $35.6 million domestically. Meanwhile, “Lilo & Stitch” opened on 3,191 screens to $35.2 million, losing out on the top spot on the charts by the narrowest of margins. The following weekend, Adam Sandler’s “Mr. Deeds” would take over at number one, while Cruise and Disney were in another very close race for the number two spot. Once again, “Minority Report” narrowly won with a $21.59 million second frame, while “Lilo & Stitch” settled for third with $21.51 million.
In the end, “Minority Report” finished its run with $132 million domestically to go with $262.3 million overseas for a grand total of $358.3 million worldwide. “Lilo & Stitch” finished with $145.7 million domestically and $127.3 million overseas for a $273.1 million global haul. In the end, it was international audiences showing up for Cruise at the height of his powers as a movie star that helped him and Spielberg with the day.
In the here and now, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” opened to over $200 million globally, which proved that Cruise still has mass appeal around the world. In this case though, the movie at hand is going to be hampered by a reported $400 million budget, making it one of the most expensive films ever made. The reimagining of “Lilo & Stitch,” on the other hand, was made for $100 million and is on pace to possibly top $1 billion when all’s said and done. It’s no contest in the 2025 match up.
But the box office is more than just who won and who lost. This is a fascinating illustration of one movie star’s enduring appeal and Disney’s first steps towards building “Lilo & Stitch” into a shockingly big franchise. One brings big action to the table while the other brings much-needed, family-oriented entertainment to the big screen. It’s just fascinating that, 23 years later, the same players wound up on the board on the same weekend.
“Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” are in theaters now.
