L ooks like Stitch and Tom Cruise aren’t family, because the live-action Lilo & Stitch is leaving Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning behind at the box office. Both movi

One of the most popular characters in the Disney universe is back, as cute as ever. If only this 'Lilo & Stitch' live-action remake had more of a reason to exist.

While the film officially released on Friday "Lilo & Stitch" made $14 million in previews on Thursday, which could be a Disney record.

Both are competently made, entertaining movies if you don’t mind the sameness that both bring to the big screen.

Regarded in a vacuum, 2025’s Lilo & Stitch is fine, and likely to entertain the littles. But compared to the stimulating, genre-defining, all-ages masterpiece from two decades ago, it’s nothing but demoralizing.

Step aside, Moana, Elsa and Simba. In recent years, Stitch has quietly become one of Disney’s most popular — and most merchandised — characters.

So it’s a little head-scratching why there’s not more of the big-eared alien weirdo in the new live-action remake “Lilo & Stitch” (★★½ out of four; rated PG; in theaters May 23).