Long Live Stitch!
Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch is the first Hollywood movie this year to surpass $1 billion at the global box office.
In its eight weekends, the family comedy grossed $416.1 million in North America and $584.8 million internationally, for a global total of $1.001 billion. However, the Chinese blockbuster Ne Zha: The Devil Boy Comes to the World 2 is still the most successful movie of 2025 so far, with $1.899 billion in box office revenue.
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Lilo & Stitch, originally planned for streaming, is the latest example of Disney generating big revenue in theaters by launching the right production at the right time.
Moana 2, which was also adapted as a TV series by Disney+, became a $1 billion hit after the animated sequel premiered on Thanksgiving last year. With these success stories, Walt Disney Studios has released four $1 billion movies in the past 13 months alone, including Marvel's Deadpool and Wolverine and Pixar's Inside Out 2.
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Featured in Variety
“We knew Lilo & Stitch was incredibly popular with audiences around the world, but we never took it for granted and are proud that this new film has resonated so deeply,” said Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment. “I’m so grateful to our filmmakers, cast, and every member of the studio team who made this film such a success. We look forward to many more adventures with these characters.”
Lilo & Stitch opened in late May and grossed $183 million domestically and $341 million worldwide in four days, making it the highest-grossing Memorial Day weekend opening of all time. It held the top spot for three consecutive weekends and was one of only two films this year to top $400 million domestically (the other was Warner Bros.’ video game adaptation, Minecraft: The Movie). Key international markets included Mexico ($67 million), the United Kingdom ($49 million) and France ($42.5 million).
Although it’s been 23 years since the animated film Lilo & Stitch was released in 2002, the character’s popularity in toy stores has not diminished at all.
Disney’s consumer products sales of Lilo & Stitch-themed products reached $2.6 billion in 2024. Now that the mischievous “troublemakers” are familiar to a new generation, sales of related merchandise are expected to continue to soar during the holiday season.
In addition, Disney+'s audience numbers are not to be underestimated. According to Disney insiders, the platform's audience numbers are growing significantly every year. The series includes multiple direct-to-video movies and TV series, with a total streaming time of more than 680 million hours, including more than 280 hours of original movies.
Directed by Dean Fleischer Kemp and produced by Rideback, Lilo and Stitch tells the story of a cute blue alien who crash-lands in Hawaii and is adopted by a little girl and her sister. Disney has announced that it is preparing a live-action adaptation, so get ready for more excitement from Stitch.
