Mission Impossible UAE 2025 opening reached an impressive $3.6 million, securing the region’s position among the top 10 global markets and highlighting the Middle East’s growing cinema influence.
The weekend of May 22-25, 2025, delivered a spectacular reminder of cinema’s enduring power. Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning combined for an extraordinary $545.7 million global opening, setting the stage for an exceptional summer season.
Lilo & Stitch surfed to a remarkable $341.7 million global debut, claiming the third-highest Disney Live Action opening weekend ever—trailing only to The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. The film’s success story extends far beyond traditional expectations, with the $100 million production—originally destined for Disney+ before receiving a theatrical upgrade.
What makes this performance particularly impressive is the film’s demographic reach. According to THR, rather than relying solely on families, Lilo & Stitch captured 60% of its domestic audience from non-parent demographics, driven largely by Gen Z and millennial women who grew up with the 2002 animated original. This cross-generational appeal translated into robust international numbers, with $158.7 million from overseas markets, including dominant performances in Mexico, the UK, and Brazil.
Tom Cruise continues to defy both gravity and industry expectations with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning launching to $204 million worldwide. The eighth installment in the franchise achieved series-best numbers globally, collecting $127 million overseas alongside strong domestic performance, surpassing previous franchise record-holder Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
Early audience reception has been positive, with an A- CinemaScore and strong critical reviews praising the film’s practical stunts and emotional storytelling.
The Middle East emerged as a crucial contributor to both films’ success. The UAE ranked among the top 10 markets for Mission: Impossible, with the Tom Cruise vehicle claiming the number one position in the region. Meanwhile, Lilo & Stitch demonstrated strong family appeal across Gulf markets, contributing significantly to Disney’s international haul.
This regional performance underscores the Middle East’s growing importance in the global cinema ecosystem. With the regional market projected to reach $3.44 billion by 2033, driven by young demographics and expanding urban centers, the weekend’s results demonstrate audiences’ appetite for premium theatrical experiences and blockbuster content across all genres.
Both films benefited from premium large format presentations, with IMAX delivering franchise-best numbers for Mission: Impossible ($31M) while Lilo & Stitch attracted families to premium screens. This trend reinforces the industry’s strategic pivot toward enhanced experiences that differentiate theatrical viewing from home streaming.
For cinema advertisers, this weekend demonstrated the power of diverse audience appeal. The success across demographics—from nostalgic millennials to action enthusiasts—created multiple engagement touchpoints. Lilo & Stitch’s family-plus-adult appeal and Mission: Impossible’s premium audience proved cinema’s unique ability to deliver both mass reach and targeted demographics in a captive, premium environment.
The weekend’s triumph establishes momentum for what industry analysts predict could be the most robust summer season since before the pandemic. The upcoming slate includes:
The combination of franchise filmmaking, premium experiences, and global appeal demonstrates that when Hollywood delivers quality content, audiences respond enthusiastically across all markets. Both films proved that theatrical experiences remain irreplaceable—whether through nostalgic emotional connections or breathtaking practical stunts.
The message is clear: cinema remains irreplaceable, and summer 2025 is positioned to be one for the record books, offering unprecedented opportunities for both exhibitors and advertisers to connect with engaged global audiences.
Sources: Deadline, Box Office Mojo, The Hollywood Reporter
With just two weeks under its belt, Avengers: Infinity War just can’t seem to stop breaking box office records. The 2018 superhero team-up film – directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and based on a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely – is undoubtedly one of the biggest Hollywood movies ever to grace the silver screen.
The super mashup shattered a number of records, in its worldwide debut over the first weekend, less than three months after Marvel’s Black Panther began its own historic run.
Let us take a look at the movie’s box office achievements so far:
Avengers: Infinity War earned $258.2 million in its first weekend, surpassing fellow Disney title Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million), to make the biggest domestic opening of all time.
Globally, Avengers: Infinity War has now grossed over $1.2 billion and has become the first film ever to cross the $1 billion mark in 11 days of release, and it has yet to release in China.
Avengers: Infinity War scored the biggest opening of all time in numerous international markets, achieving the highest debut ever in South Korea ($39.2 million), Mexico ($25.1 million), Brazil ($18.8 million), the Philippines ($12.5 million), Thailand ($10 million), Indonesia ($9.6 million) and Malaysia ($8.4 million). In India ($18.6 million), it was the biggest bow for a Western title ever and has already surpassed the entire runs of The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War.
Apart from ranking as the second biggest debut of all time in Australia ($23 million), behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the superhero blockbuster notched the best start for a superhero pic in France ($17.7 million), Germany ($14.7 million) and Spain ($8.3 million). It was the second-best superhero epic showing in Italy ($11 million).
Leading all foreign markets with $42.2 million was the U.K./Ireland, where Avengers: Infinity War now boasts the third-biggest launch of all time, including the biggest Saturday ever.
The movie recorded the biggest three-day opening in the UAE, raking in a gross total of Dh15.4 million at the box office. According to UAE distributor Italia Film, the Marvel superhero adventure recorded 3,900 admissions in its opening weekend (between Thursday to Saturday) and is still running to packed houses.
Avengers: Infinity War is the 19th film in the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe, combining a whooping nine franchises and a cast list that reads like a who’s who of Hollywood’s A-list.
Still to watch this MEGA superhero blockbuster?
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Sources: Gulf News (Tabloid), The Hollywood Reporter and TIME
