‘Lilo & Stitch’ Dominates Again With $63 Million, ‘Karate Kid: Legends’ Opens to Only $21 Million
Karate Kid: Legends
Sony’s PG-13 action sequel was aiming for $25 million from 3,809 North American venues. Though “Legends” has garnered positive reactions from audiences (the film earned an “A-” grade on CinemaScore exit polls, compared to the 59% RT average from critics), attendance didn’t break out beyond “Karate Kid” fans.
Karate Kid: Legends earned $21 million at the domestic box office, a decent start, though behind expectations. The movie carries a relatively modest $45 million production budget.
Karate Kid: Legends is the franchise’s first new theatrical installment in 15 years, since 2010’s reboot with Jackie Chan. That film opened to $55 million (not adjusted for inflation) and ultimately earned $359 million globally. This new version, directed by Jonathan Entwistle, unites Chan with Ralph Macchio, who learned the art of “wax on, wax off” in the 1984 original “Karate Kid.” The long-running martial arts series has enjoyed a boost from streaming with “Cobra Kai,” a spinoff sequel that concluded after six seasons on YouTube Red and then Netflix. “Legends” picks up three years after the “Cobra Kai” finale as a new student (“American Born Chinese” star Ben Wang) becomes the latest protege to Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) and Mr. Han (Chan).
Karate Kid: Legends” opened at No. 3 and didn’t have the strength to beat Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” reboot, which topped the box office for the second consecutive weekend with a mighty $63 million from 4,410 venues. Ticket sales dropped 57% from its $146 million opening weekend, which is encouraging momentum for a tentpole of its size. The live-action remake has generated $280 million domestically and $610 million globally after two weekends on the big screen.
Mission: Impossible–The Final Reckoning
Bring Her Back
This weekend’s other newcomer is A24’s supernatural horror film “Bring Her Back,” which launched in fifth place with $7 million from 2,449 screens. The specialty studio reportedly financed the film for $15 million before selling foreign rights to Sony. Critics and audiences have embraced the terrifying movie, a thrill ride about siblings who uncover a terrifying ritual at their foster mother’s home. “Bring Her Back” is Danny and Michael Philippou’s follow-up to “Talk to Me,” which became a sleeper hit in 2022. That film had a stronger $10 million start before ending its theatrical run with $91 million worldwide.
The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson’s latest feature, The Phoenician Scheme, which premiered in Cannes Fest last month, opened in limited release with $570,000 from 6 screens, averaging $95,000 per location. This ranks as the top screen average of 2025, overtaking A24’s “Friendship” with $444,759 from six screens.
Universal, the parent company of Focus, is rolling out “The Phoenician Scheme” at the international box office, where the movie has earned $6.2 million from 41 markets.
As the summer season heats up, the box office is riding high with overall revenues up 25.5% from last year, though still 27% behind 2019, according to Comscore.
