Lilo & Stitch becomes Hollywood's first 2025 movie to crawl across the billion-dollar mark

(We’re careful to note that this competition is only being hashed out between Hollywood films, by the way: Chinese animated feature Ne Zha 2 exploded past the billion within the first two months of the year, almost entirely from the Chinese box office. The film, directed by animator Jiaozi, has, depending on your sources, made between $1.9 billion and $2.2 billion this year; nobody in the U.S. has ever matched that kind of number, post-COVID, aside from reigning box office king James Cameron with 2022’s Avatar: The Way Of Water.)

Lilo & Stitch limping its way across the line does mean Disney is continuing its streak of being the only Hollywood studio that can actually hit the mark with any consistency; last year, Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Moana 2 all eventually crossed the finish line. As to whether it can hold on to that solitary distinction, it’s currently an open question: Warner Bros.’ Superman, pretty much the top non-Disney contender, arrived last week to a somewhat weaker domestic opening weekend than Lilo & Stitch posted—and superhero movies don’t typically have nearly as long a tail as kid-focused stuff, especially when Disney is breathing down James Gunn’s neck with the arrival of its own Fantastic Four next week.