With Disney’s recent live-action woes with critics and the box office, the live-action remake of Lilo & Sтιтch and its тιтular Experiment 626 could be its saving grace, according to recent box office opening projections. A live-action adaptation of the beloved animated film from 2002, the new version hails from Marcel the Shell with Shoes On‘s Dean Fleischer Camp and features a star-studded cast, including Maia Kealoha as the тιтular young girl and Chris Sanders reprising his role as the eponymous blue alien.
As the live-action remake’s release draws closer, the first Lilo & Sтιтch box office projections have arrived. Per ᴅᴇᴀᴅline‘s report, based on numbers from Quorum, the next Disney remake is expected to debut with a $100M+ opening weekend at the box office. This marks a significant figure when considering it is set to go up against Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning as the two films share their openings over the Memorial Day weekend.
What This Means For Lilo & Sтιтch
Should Be A Better Box Office Performance Than Disney’s Most Recent Live-Action Remake
The most recent live-action remake from Disney would be Snow White, which has a 40% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics and a 72% from viewers. However, its IMDb score faced review bombing and has a 1.6/10 rating, which pushed it toward the lowest spectrum of the site’s rated movies. With the movie having a reported price tag of $270 million, its $170 million worldwide gross thus far is a concern for the studio, with controversy surrounding Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot cited as a potential reason for this bombing.
Snow White‘s critical reception and box office numbers lay a stage stained with misgivings, but the reported optics make the expectation that Lilo & Sтιтch‘s release might redeem not just Disney’s recent stumble, but their slate of live-action remakes in general. As for compeтιтion, it does share an opening weekend with Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, and while that franchise’s resilience has wavered in recent box office numbers, it is highly anticipated by longtime fans. This, however, hints at not necessarily a significant dip in numbers, but a boost in this Memorial Day weekend’s box office draw.
Our Take On Lilo & Sтιтch’s Possibly Big Opening Weekend
It’s Well-Deserved & Somewhat Surprising
Given Disney’s track record of live-action remakes and its highly critical fanbase, which is doubly so, considering how beloved the original Lilo & Sтιтch is, these projected numbers are refreshing and not too surprising. There doesn’t seem to be much controversy surrounding it, aside from seemingly doing away with Pleakley’s favored disguises, as director Camp and his team don’t seem to be changing too much, instead layering expansions of scenes and characters delectably like a cake. If this remake of Lilo & Sтιтch is as faithful yet creatively innovative as it appears, it could be Disney’s live-action redeemer.
Source: Quorum (via ᴅᴇᴀᴅline)
