Two months after Disney's live-action Snow White was released, the studio's live-action version of Lilo & Stitch is making up for the major misfire with a massive Memorial Day weekend box office.
Based on the 2002 animated feature film hit of the same name, Lilo & Stitch, per Deadline's projections, is eyeing a monolithic four-day holiday weekend opening of anywhere between $175 million to $180 million from 4,420 North American theaters.
What's even more encouraging is that the film is handily defeating pre-release projections and doing so by going head-to-head against Tom Cruise's big-budget action-espionage movie Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, which itself is opening to a franchise-best $77 million opening in its first four-day frame, Deadline reported.
On the other hand, Disney's Snow White -- which starred Rachel Zegler in the title role and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen -- had no real competition when it opened in theaters on March 21, earning an anemic $42.2 million from 4,200 theaters domestically.
In most cases, a $42 million take is a solid number, but given Snow White had a reported $270 million before prints and advertising, it became pretty apparent at the end of the film's first weekend that Disney's live-action adaptation of the 1937 animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was not going to live happily ever after.
So why, exactly are Disney executives likely breathing a major sigh of relief two mere days into the release of Lilo & Stitch?
For one, the already beloved tale of a lonely orphaned 6-year-old girl (Maia Kealoha) befriending a blue, furry alien experiment gone awry cost $100 million to make and $100 million to market worldwide, according to Variety, which is no doubt an expensive production but a bargain in comparison to the amount Disney spent to make Snow White.
Perhaps more importantly, though, Lilo & Stitch opened in theaters without being hampered by any notable Snow White-like controversies. Sure, fans and critics will always find reasons to complain when a beloved Disney animated property is adapted into a live-action film, but you didn't find any of the stars of Lilo & Stitch making snipes about the 2002 film being dated or outside parties criticizing casting decisions.
Also, there were no divisive political social media posts from the Lilo & Stitch cast members nor did the CGI Stitch resemble half-rendered garden gnomes like Snow White's seven dwarf companions.
In fact, Stitch looks exactly like he did in the animated film -- except this time his CGI interpretation came off as an actual living, breathing creature who fit into a live-action frame -- and he sounded the same. That was a given, though, considering original Stitch voice actor Chris Sanders, who also directed the original film, reprised the character's voice for the new version.
Only time will tell how much money the live-action Lilo & Stitch will end up making in theaters. The film's opening weekend numbers, however, are setting up a very promising scenario. Once information about ticket sales in international markets begin to roll in, there's no doubt that those numbers -- in addition to the film's projected $175 million to $180 million four-day domestic opening -- will easily push Lilo & Stitch far past the $200 million mark at the worldwide box office.
Considering Lilo & Stitch's international gross on Friday alone was $56.3 million, per The Numbers, it's even possible that the film could reach the $300 million mark worldwide by Monday.
Snow White, meanwhile, is nearing the end of its box office run with a worldwide box office gross of $204 million in ticket sales since March 21.
Of course, Lilo & Stitch's success won't ever provide an excuse for Snow White's failings, but at least the film's booming box office will help erase some of the painful memories the live-action princess movie flop created in the past few months since its release.