Walt Disney Co.’s live-action adaptation “Lilo & Stitch” has now generated more than $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue, becoming the first U.S. film of the year to do so.
The movie, based on the 2002 animated film of the same name, made $416.2 million in the U.S. and Canada and an additional $584.8 million internationally. It is the highest-grossing Disney live-action film ever in Mexico, where it brought in $67 million.
“We knew there was a lot of love for ‘Lilo & Stitch’ with audiences around the world, yet we never take that for granted,” Disney Entertainment co-Chairman Alan Bergman said in a statement. “We’re proud of how this new film has connected with people.”
The Burbank-based media and entertainment giant has already announced that a sequel to “Lilo & Stitch” is in development.
The movie was released on May 23 and hauled in $183 million domestically during its opening weekend, a total that edged out 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick” to claim the mantle of biggest Memorial Day weekend opener ever.
The original animated movie was only a modest box-office performer at the time, bringing in $273 million. Yet over time, Stitch has become increasingly popular, ranking in the top 10 bestselling Disney franchises, alongside stalwarts like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the princesses, Star Wars and Marvel, Disney has said.
Sales of Stitch-themed merchandise totaled about $2.6 billion last year. And before the new film was released, the “Lilo & Stitch” franchise, which includes animated series, TV films and direct-to-video movies, drove 546 million hours of global viewership on Disney+, with the original movie accounting for more than half of that.
Bergman said in May that the popularity of the little blue alien “definitely” played a role in greenlighting the live-action film.
The success of “Lilo & Stitch” comes as family-friendly movies have ruled the box office. The momentum began in April with Warner Bros. Pictures’ “A Minecraft Movie,” which has now made $955 million worldwide, and continued with “Lilo & Stitch” and Universal Pictures’ live-action adaptation “How to Train Your Dragon,” which released in June and collected more than $564 million globally.
“Lilo & Stitch” is just the most recent Disney film to cross the $1-billion mark. Last year, Disney and Pixar’s animated “Inside Out 2,” Walt Disney Animation’s “Moana 2” and Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool & Wolverine” each made $1 billion in global box office revenue.
Globally, the biggest film of the year remains “Ne Zha 2,” a Chinese animated juggernaut that grossed more than $2 billion in ticket sales, the vast majority of which came from its home country.
