If Disney wasn’t already rethinking its Disney Plus streaming business before the gargantuan four-day holiday-weekend opening of Lilo & Stitch, it certainly will be now. The live-action remake — originally intended to bow on Disney Plus — crushed at the U.S. box office, grossing $183 million over the Memorial Day weekend (with a haul of over $304 million worldwide). It’s a staggering number for a Disney character who has, through merchandise and mascotability, far outpaced reception to the original movie; Lilo & Stitch only made $145.8 million over its complete theatrical run in 2002.
Disney’s blockbuster win comes at a time when the theatrical business is struggling to lure in audiences to achieve the box-office numbers of a pre-pandemic era. The studios are also contending with their own internal logic: Development on a Lilo & Stitch remake began all the way back in 2016, with an official announcement arriving in
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