By Ben Fritz

"Lilo & Stitch" has grown from a modestly successful animated movie into one of Disney's most popular franchises in toy stores, on streaming and in social-media memes. Its titular alien is such a Hollywood powerhouse that he has made Tom Cruise an underdog at the box office.

Disney's live-action "Lilo & Stitch" was originally positioned as a family-friendly Memorial Day weekend alternative to Cruise's big budget "Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning." Polling now indicates the film will open to more than $150 million in the U.S. and Canada from Thursday night through Monday, compared with around $80 million for "Mission." It is also expected to be No. 1 in most foreign markets.

That would make the movie, which cost just over $100 million to produce, a big financial win for Disney and provide a welcome boost after its "Snow White" remake bombed in March.

Disney is so confident in "Lilo & Stitch" that it is already thinking about sequels. "It feels like it's going to work very well, and it's the kind of property that lends itself to more," said Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman, who oversees the company's film business.

Fans' passion for the property centers on Stitch, an alien who causes mayhem after he crash-lands in Hawaii and is adopted by a girl being raised by her older sister. Disney research shows the character is particularly beloved by young women who grew up watching the original film and girls who recently discovered it.

Disney has put Stitch on virtually every product possible, from dog collars to hair turbans to a pineapple-shaped goblet. It has released a slew of new merchandise ahead of the movie, aiming to avoid a repeat of 2013's "Frozen," when parents couldn't find enough Elsa dresses for their daughters.

Retail sales of Stitch products grew $2.6 billion in Disney's 2024 fiscal year from $200 million five years earlier, according to the company. "Lilo & Stitch" is now one of Disney's 10 best-selling franchises.

Those numbers helped convince Disney to remake the film, a decision that further stoked its popularity on store shelves and streaming. Since announcing the remake, "we've seen the thing explode from a Disney+ and consumer-products perspective," said Bergman.

The original "Lilo & Stitch" grossed $273 million in 2002, less than forgotten Disney animated films from the same decade such as "Chicken Little" and "Bolt." But as more people discovered the movie on Disney+, along with direct-to-DVD sequels and an animated series, its popularity grew.

On Disney+, streams of "Lilo & Stitch" content now total about 546 million hours -- on par with "The Little Mermaid."

Brittany Dubien first watched "Lilo & Stitch" on DVD when she was around 12 and has been obsessed ever since. The 28-year-old owns dozens of Stitch stuffed animals, along with bedsheets, T-shirts and pajamas.

Dubien, who has autism, sees herself in the film's out-of-place alien. "When I was a child, it was the spectacle of Stitch, but now that I'm older, I can relate to him being different and confused about the world around him," the Ontario resident said.

"Lilo & Stitch" was originally part of a slate of direct-to-streaming films that Disney began developing ahead of the 2019 launch of Disney+. It abandoned that strategy after learning films are often more popular on streaming after playing in theaters.

In the case of "Lilo," the change also means Disney is set to make hundreds of millions of dollars that it would have otherwise left on the table.

Ads for the new movie have focused largely on chaos caused by Stitch, who one person close to its production described as "Deadpool for kids," a reference to Marvel's foul-mouthed anti-hero. The alien ran onto the field in a Super Bowl ad and chews through his movie's logo on billboards.

"This is a character that can break the fourth wall," said Disney's president of marketing, Asad Ayaz.

Live-action remakes of animated classics have been a mainstay of Disney's release slate for more than a decade, with hits including "The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin." A live-action version of 2016's "Moana" is set for release next year.

But updating animated classics for modern audiences has sometimes proven tricky. "Dumbo" was panned for animals that didn't talk, and "Snow White" ran into a political minefield over its alleged "wokeness."

As Disney's youngest animated film to get a remake, "Lilo & Stitch" required few changes, Bergman said. One of the only differences fans have noted is that the human Lilo is bigger than her dog-size alien friend.

Like many Stitch fans, Damian Ramirez-Gonzales plans to see the remake but is nervous about potential changes to a film he says stands out among animated fairy tales for its contemporary American setting and subtle subversiveness.

"I like how it's one of the most original ideas Disney has had in many years," the 19 year-old student from Wisconsin said.

Write to Ben Fritz at ben.fritz@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 20, 2025 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT)

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