As 2024’s release calendar reaches its final months, it’s time for studios to finish plotting when upcoming films will hit theaters in 2025. Disney did just that today for a couple of things. Deadline reports the studio has official theater premiere dates for the “Freakier Friday” and their live-action “Lilo & Stitch” film: the Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan sequel will bow on August 8, 2025, while “Lilo & Stitch” moves up from that date to May 23, 2025.
A Memorial Day weekend opening for “Lilo & Stitch” may raise some eyebrows, as it’s a premier release period and it pits the remake against Christopher McQuarrie‘s next “Mission: Impossible” film. Tom Cruise‘s name basically guarantees box office supremacy for Paramount‘s blockbuster, but maybe Disney execs are high on their latest live-action remake? Or maybe Disney looks to monopolize the audience demographics who aren’t looking for a big bombastic spy flick, namely families and kids.
Dean Fleischer Camp directs the upcoming film, with Maia Kealoha, Zach Galifianakis, and Billy Magnussen leading the cast. For those unfamiliar with the 2002 animated film, it follows a friendship between a girl and Stitch, a cute alien engineered to be a force of destruction. Chris Kekaniokalani Bright pens a script, with a previous draft by Mike Van Waes. Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich produce through Rideback, with Ryan Halprin on board as Disney’s executive producer.
As for “Freakier Friday,” the sequel will square off against Paul Thomas Anderson‘s buzzy upcoming flick, which remains under shrouds of secrecy. Nisha Ganatra directs the film from a script by Jordan Weiss, and sees several cast members from the 2003 original besides Curtin and Lohan return. Chad Michael Murray reprises his role as Lohan’s love interest, with Mark Harmon, Christina Vidal Michell, Haley Hudson, Lucille Soong, Stephen Toblowsky, and Rosalind Chao back, too. Andrew Gunn and Kristin Burr lead producers.
Disney already had a packed Summer 2025 release schedule before day-and-dating “Lilo & Stitch” and “Freakier Friday.” Two Marvel movies launch next summer: “Thunderbolts*” on May 2, 2025 and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” on July 25, 2025. Pixar has their latest out next summer, too: “Elio,” which bows on June 13, 2025. Out of those five, expect the two Marvel films to lead the way in box-office gross.
