Tom Cruise’s reign as Hollywood’s most dependable action star faced a surprising challenger in the form of Disney’s mischievous alien Stitch—twice, over two decades. The peculiar rivalry between Cruise’s films and the Lilo & Stitch franchise led to crowd-pleasing battles at the box office, forcing even loyal Cruise fans to take note of the animated upstart’s enduring popularity.
Known for electrifying performances in iconic blockbusters like Top Gun and Days of Thunder, Tom Cruise has for years held the title of Hollywood’s last great action star. Despite cultural shifts and new faces aiming for movie stardom, Cruise’s persistent draw filled theaters worldwide. Still, his star power met a unique challenge—not from a rival actor, but from Stitch, a tiny, blue chaos agent who upended Cruise’s box office dominance both in 2002 and again in 2025.
In both showdowns, for very different reasons, crowds gravitated toward Stitch over Cruise’s latest high-octane roles. Exploring the reasons behind this rare phenomenon offers a look into shifting audience tastes and the changing Hollywood landscape, as well as the strengths of each franchise and the business acumen that brought them face-to-face.
Tom Cruise’s blockbusters at the turn of the century
After a string of critically lauded performances in Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut, Tom Cruise soared into the early 2000s with big-budget action projects like Mission: Impossible 2 and the surreal drama Vanilla Sky, both proving, through impressive box office receipts, the enduring value of Cruise’s star power. When Minority Report debuted in 2002 under the direction of Steven Spielberg, the pieces for a major cinematic event fell into place. Analysts expected Cruise, then at his peak and untainted by later controversies, to clinch another top spot at theaters worldwide.
While various personal scandals would later impact Cruise’s public perception, none of that clouded the optimism surrounding Minority Report at its release. It was a sure bet on paper, pairing a leading action hero with a blockbuster director—until a Disney animated feature debuted on the same day, splitting audience attention.
Disney’s uncertain period ahead of Lilo & Stitch
The early 2000s found Disney in transition. After its influential late 1980s and early 1990s Renaissance, which brought classics such as The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, Disney’s attempts to replicate that success sputtered. Sequels and new properties like Fantasia 2000, The Emperor’s New Groove, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire struggled to recapture that magic, posting unremarkable returns at the box office and leaving Disney on precarious footing as the new decade began.
Despite questions over the studio’s direction, the stage was set for an unlikely contender. With Pixar productions under its distribution wing but not yet acquired, Disney looked to an original story—featuring Stitch, a blue extraterrestrial with a penchant for mayhem—to reconnect with audiences and reset its fortunes.
A summer showdown: Minority Report versus Lilo & Stitch
On June 21, 2002, ticket buyers faced a notable choice: watch Tom Cruise in the futuristic thriller Minority Report or join Disney’s Lilo & Stitch for a heartwarming, mischievous adventure in Hawaii. The competition seemed lopsided, with Spielberg and Cruise on one side and a somewhat risky Disney animated film on the other.
Minority Report was widely anticipated to top box office charts, especially given its action-heavy plot and established star. However, while the Cruise-led film performed well globally, grossing $358 million, Lilo & Stitch stole the domestic spotlight, amassing $146 million compared to Minority Report’s $132 million, and ultimately reaching $275 million worldwide. With lower production costs—$80 million versus Minority Report’s $102 million—Disney’s gamble paid off handsomely, matching Cruise’s success and, in the U.S., surpassing it.
This face-off revealed that audiences were ready for the refreshing family appeal and emotional heart of Stitch’s story, at least as much as they were for Cruise’s relentless action. It also marked the start of a long-lasting rivalry—one that would resurface in even more dramatic fashion two decades later.
Lilo & Stitch builds a Disney empire
The tremendous reception for Lilo & Stitch signaled a rare triumph for Disney during a turbulent period, prompting a wave of creative expansions. Just a year after its silver screen debut, the sequel Stitch! The Movie arrived, doubling as a pilot for a dedicated television series that ran for 67 episodes on major children’s networks.
In 2005, Disney released another direct-to-video installment, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, while the franchise spread internationally. Stitch inspired a Japanese anime series (Stitch!), a Chinese take (Stitch & Ai), and a variety of merchandise, becoming an enduring mascot for Disney alongside the likes of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. By 2024, the franchise’s annual merchandise sales hit $2.6 billion, dwarfing the approximately $200 million it generated in earlier years and cementing Stitch’s status as an essential Disney icon.
The widespread appeal of Stitch—both in the U.S. and abroad—sparked even further investment, culminating with a high-profile live-action adaptation designed to leverage the nostalgia and merchandising power of the brand.
The resurgence of Tom Cruise in the action genre
Throughout the 2000s, Cruise’s public image faced turbulence, including high-profile talk show incidents and polarizing remarks about mental health, which drew criticism from public figures like Brooke Shields. Despite these obstacles, his career rarely slowed, with steady output and the growing narrative around Cruise’s commitment to performing his own death-defying stunts.
The 2011 release of Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol signaled a comeback, especially after the actor climbed Dubai’s Burj Khalifa—a feat that echoed throughout pop culture thanks to viral Internet coverage. The focus on practical stunts and physical risk underscored a new phase in Cruise’s career, reaching its zenith with 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, which nearly reached $1.5 billion worldwide.
With his abilities and work ethic now more celebrated than his quirks or controversies, Cruise was poised for another head-to-head battle with Stitch as the decade wore on.
Disney’s live-action successes and setbacks
With multiplexes reopened post-pandemic, Disney confronted declining returns from its string of live-action remakes. Initial hits like Aladdin and The Lion King surpassed $1 billion each in 2019, but audience enthusiasm waned as remakes seemed to offer diminishing creative returns. Lockdowns prompted direct-to-streaming releases, reducing box office potential for films like Mulan and Pinocchio, while 2023’s The Little Mermaid and 2024’s Mufasa: The Lion King posted more modest numbers compared to their animated predecessors.
The critical and commercial nadir came in 2025 with a much-publicized misstep: Snow White earned just north of $200 million after a turbulent development, marking a clear downturn for the remake trend. Yet, just as fatigue threatened to define Disney’s live-action fortunes, anticipation swelled for the next installment of the Lilo & Stitch saga.
Rematch at the multiplex: Mission Impossible faces Stitch again
The stage was set for a blockbuster confrontation in May 2025. Tom Cruise reprised his role in Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, a film promoted through the promise of even wilder stunts and positioned as a potential finale for Cruise’s most iconic franchise.
At the same time, Disney released a live-action Lilo & Stitch, which, despite changes like altering the ending to have Nani attend college in California, remained faithful in spirit to the original. Audiences responded with enthusiasm, propelling the film to $773 million globally against a $100 million budget. While Final Reckoning attracted $450 million worldwide on a reported $400 million budget, the margin was overwhelming—a clear victory for Stitch, with no ambiguity about the financial winner.
The resounding nature of this upset raised deeper questions about what compels moviegoers to choose a particular film, especially when celebrity and nostalgia collide at the theater.
Cultural strategy: Why do Cruise and Stitch keep colliding?
To the casual observer, the repeated face-offs between Tom Cruise and the Lilo & Stitch franchise may appear coincidental, but they are grounded in the studio tradition of counter-programming. When major studios plan release dates, they typically avoid sending similarly targeted films into competition, aiming instead to capture different slices of the audience for maximal total revenue.
This tactic was notable in recent “Barbenheimer” memes, but its application stretches back decades, including the Cruise-Stitch confrontation: while Minority Report and Mission: Impossible aimed for teens and adults, Lilo & Stitch catered to families and children. Parents could even split up, each taking different age groups to a preferred title. History shows these patterns boost the economic prospects of both films, yet in both high-stakes encounters, Stitch’s impish appeal managed to draw more buzz than Cruise’s dramatic heroics.
What’s next for Tom Cruise and Stitch?
Looking at the rivalry’s scoreboard, the advantage now lies clearly with Stitch. While the first contest could be interpreted as a tie, the 2025 battle left Tom Cruise’s Final Reckoning far behind. Industry speculation now swirls about the inevitable third round. Though no direct sequel to the live-action Lilo & Stitch has been confirmed, industry leaders remain optimistic about the property’s potential. Before the remake’s release, Disney Entertainment’s Alan Bergman told The Wall Street Journal,
“It feels like [‘Lilo & Stitch’ is] going to work very well, and it’s the kind of property that lends itself to more.”
—Alan Bergman, Co-chairman, Disney Entertainment
Given the ongoing merchandising boom, another chapter for Stitch and company seems likely, potentially introducing new characters and stories to fuel additional waves of fandom. Meanwhile, Cruise shows no signs of slowing down. On deck are projects like Top Gun 3, a sequel to Days of Thunder, and a reported space adventure with ambitions to become the first movie actually filmed in orbit.
Whether the box office will see another direct battle between Tom Cruise’s cinematic thrill rides and Stitch’s heartfelt misadventures remains uncertain. Yet, given their history, audiences and industry insiders alike are watching closely, eager to see if Cruise can learn from the past and finally unseat Stitch as the most improbable box office rival he’s ever faced.
