Stitch looking up in the 2025 Lilo & Stitch
By
Zoe Miskelly
Published 49 minutes ago
Zoë Miskelly is an editor for Screen Rant's Superheroes team, and has covered Marvel, DC, and other superhero franchises in comic, movie, and show form for 8 years. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture.
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2025's biggest box office results so far cement that one film avenue is still a consistent financial hit for the world of cinema. Film as an art and as a form of public entertainment is constantly evolving, and this concept has been particularly clear in the past few years, as conversations around movies explore the medium's place in a world wherein social media has taken over as the dominant form of entertainment in many ways.
That said, there are still some stories and genres that tend to be relatively consistent movie hits, even as what audiences want from movies and go to the cinema for continues to evolve. 2025's two biggest box office successes thus far appear to solidify this concept, as they build on film territory that's been the source of beloved hits for decades.
2025's 2 Current $1+ Billion Box Office Results Both Cover The Same Genre In Different Ways
Lilo, Stitch, and Nani surfing in Lilo & Stitch (2002)
While there's still over a month left for upcoming movies to join the ranks, 2025 currently has only two movies that have made over $1 billion with their respective worldwide box office results (as per The Numbers) with those two movies being the staggeringly successful Ne Zha 2, and the 2025 live-action Lilo & Stitch remake, which uses CGI to animate the iconic and beloved alien "dog" found within its story instead of rendering he and Lilo via 2D animation.
Interestingly, though the Lilo & Stitch remake is live-action, both of these films share some considerable common ground - most prominently in being animated movies (or an animated movie and a remake of an animated movie, at least) that center on an endearing if slightly unusual protagonist duo, and which are intended to be relatively family-friendly films largely aimed at appealing to younger audiences - though Ne Zha 2 is rated PG-13.
While the stories of these two releases themselves are notably different - with Ne Zha 2 loosely adapting the 16th century novel Investiture of the Gods, and Lilo & Stitch creating its own take on the animated Disney movie story of a young girl adopting a semi-feral alien who learns the meaning of family from her - the fact both movies fall under the same overarching categories is interesting to note, especially given they're the biggest movies of 2025 financially.
The Success Of 2025's $1B+ Hits Bode Well For More Than Just The Genres They Come Under
Nezha looking sad in Ne Zha 2
Prior years have previously also demonstrated the potential of this specific film territory, with 2024's three highest-grossing films including Inside Out 2 and Moana 2 alongside Deadpool & Wolverine, and 2023 seeing The Super Mario Bros. Movie net second place in the year's own lineup - which had some fierce competition, thanks to releases like Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
With 2025 also continuing this trend, it's safe to say the world of largely family-friendly action-adventures that are either animated or remake an animated movie look set to continue to be a box office stronghold for the world of film. Though these remakes in particular can be the subject of some divisive receptions, the evident popularity the animated movies that they come from still have is reassuring to see in a film landscape wherein some movies that could have previously been considered safe hits are less consistently successful.
Though not every movie that comes under this umbrella has seen universal box office success, the fact most recent years have consistently seen major financial hits with this type of movie means the genre can effectively to some degree serve as the backbone or cornerstone of the world of cinema - especially since they encourage younger viewers to go to the movies.
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Ne Zha 2
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