Disney / Paramount
Remake «Lilo and Stitch», which critics have already was called one of the best films in Disney’s history, atones failures of this year’s «Snow White» at the box office — and does it quite successfully
According to Variety, «Lilo & Stitch» earned $341 million worldwide (including $157.8 million overseas) in its opening weekend and is second only to the other hit film adaptation this year in terms of first weekend grosses — a movie about Minecraft, which is confidently making its way to a billion. If we consider only Disney projects, the blue alien film is currently ranked third among the best debuts for «live-action» remakes, after «The Lion King» (2019) and «Beauty and the Beast» (2017), which have each grossed more than $1 billion.
The film «Lilo and Stitch», directed by Dean Fleischer Kemp («Marcel, The Shell in the Shoes»), is based on the plot of the 2002 animated film of the same name: Stitch, a genetically modified alien, lands in Hawaii and pretends to be a dog who has been adopted by an orphaned girl named Lilo. As the duo wreaks havoc across the city, Stitch is hunted by alien police and his creator, geneticist Jamba Jukiba. The film stars Maya Kealoha (Lilo), Sydney Agudong (Nani) and Chris Sanders (the voice of Stitch).
Interestingly, despite the positive first reactions, the critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes has now dropped to 69%, while The audience gave the film an almost perfect 93% rating
«It’s not a remake that will shake you to the core, but it’s not a soulless copy either. “Lilo and Stitch 2025 is a warm, a little simple, but sincere movie that you can watch with your family and remember that “Ohana means family, and family means that no one is forgotten.” Take your son, daughter, younger brothers, sisters and go to the movies, the kids will definitely be delighted with this story, and you… you might get a cool experience of different emotions, most of them warm, kind and sincere», — з ITC.ua reviews.
Another premiere of the weekend — Final «Mission: Impossible» Tom Cruise — showed a somewhat more modest box office result than the Disney family film, but still had the best domestic start in the franchise with $63 million in the US and almost $200 million worldwideA powerful debut for an action movie, if you don’t take into account the budget, which, according to some estimates exceeded $400 million.
In «Mission: Impossible 8», directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is expected to save the world: this time from a dangerous AI program called The Entity, which seems to predict the protagonist’s every move and could lead to disaster if it falls into the wrong hands. We remind you that the first reviews rated the movie at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, as «almost perfect ending for the character». Although we doubt that this is really the end, as Cruz has previously stated that plans to act in action movies «under 100 years old».
«It’s probably not the shiniest coin in the coffers, and even the previous “Reckoning: Part One” looked livelier, more intense, and more authentic, or something. But it’s a fitting end to a nearly 30-year journey at top speed, even if the momentum does slow down a bit. In the end, it’s a solid and honest summer blockbuster that, like its protagonist, feels confident, especially among the tired Marvel Fast and Furious fairy tales», — з ITC.ua reviews.
Earlier, Cruise talked about how he performed a stunt in one of the franchise’s films with a broken leg, as well as how in the eighth installment, forced director McQuarrie to repeat the dangerous flight on the wing of an airplane