By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer
“Lilo & Stich” and “Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning” dominated the box office charts again after fueling a record-breaking Memorial Day weekend. Theaters in the U.S. and Canada had several new films to offer this weekend as well, including Sony’s family friendly “Karate Kid: Legends” and the A24 horror movie “Bring Her Back. ” According to studio estimates Sunday, it added up to a robust $149 million post-holiday weekend that’s up over 120% from the same timeframe last year.
Disney’s live-action hybrid “Lilo & Stitch” took first place again with $63 million from 4,410 locations in North America. It was enough to pass “Sinners” to become the second-highest grossing movie of the year with $280.1 million in domestic ticket sales. Globally, its running total is $610.8 million. “Sinners,” meanwhile, is still going strong in its seventh weekend with another $5.2 million, bumping it to $267.1 million domestically and $350.1 million globally.
The eighth “Mission: Impossible” movie also repeated in second place, with $27.3 million from 3,861 locations. As with “Lilo & Stitch,” that’s down 57% from its opening. With $122.6 million in domestic tickets sold, it’s performing in line with the two previous installments. But with a reported production budget of $400 million, profitability is a ways off. Internationally, it added $76.1 million (including $25.2 million from China where it just opened), bringing its global total to $353.8 million.
“This is the year of longterm playability,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s senior media analyst. “The currency of word of mouth and the strong hold is more important than opening weekend dollars.”
Leading the newcomers was Sony’s “Karate Kid: Legends,” with an estimated $21 million from 3,809 locations. The movie brings Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio together to train a new kid, the kung fu prodigy Li Fong ( Ben Wang ). Chan starred in a 2010 reboot of the 1984 original, while Macchio has found a new generation of fans in the series “Cobra Kai,” which just concluded a six-season run.
Reviews might have been mixed, but opening weekend audiences gave the PG-13 rated film a strong A- CinemaScore and 4.5 stars on PostTrak. It also only cost a reported $45 million to produce and has several weeks until a new family-friendly film arrives. “Karate Kid: Legends” opened earlier internationally and has a worldwide total of $47 million.
Fourth place went “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” which earned $10.8 million in its third weekend. The movie is the highest-grossing in the franchise, not accounting for inflation, with $229.3 million globally.
The weekend’s other big newcomer, “Bring Her Back” rounded out the top five with $7.1 million from 2,449 screens. Starring Sally Hawkins as a foster mother with some disturbing plans, the film is the sophomore feature of twin filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou, who made the 2023 horror breakout “Talk to Me.” It earned a rare-for-horror B+ CinemaScore and is essentially the only new film in the genre until “28 Years Later” opens on June 20.
A new Wes Anderson movie, “The Phoenician Scheme,” also debuted in New York and Los Angeles this weekend, where it made $270,000. It expands nationwide next weekend.
The summer box office forecast remains promising, though there’s a long way to go to get to the $4 billion target (a pre-pandemic norm that only the “Barbenheimer” summer has surpassed). The month of May is expected to close out with $973 million – up 75% from May 2024, according to data from Comscore.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Lilo & Stitch,” $63 million.
2. “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” $27.3 million.
3. “Karate Kid: Legends,” 21 million.
4. “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” $10.8 million.
5. “Bring Her Back,” $7.1 million.
6. “Sinners,” $5.2 million.
7. “Thunderbolts,” $4.8 million.
8. “Friendship,” $2.6 million.
9. “The Last Rodeo,” $2.1 million.
10. “j-hope Tour ‘HOPE ON THE STAGE’ in JAPAN: LIVE VIEWING,” $939,173.