Disney’s Lilo & Stitch remake and Tom Cruise’s supposed farewell in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning have stormed the global box office, marking one of the biggest opening weekends of the year.
Disney’s live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch has surpassed expectations with an impressive $341 million in global takings, making it the second-highest opening of 2025 so far—just behind A Minecraft Movie. The film also broke the record for the US Memorial Day weekend.
The reimagining of the beloved 2002 animated classic features Courtney B. Vance, Zach Galifianakis, and eight-year-old newcomer Maia Kealoha, alongside a computer-generated Stitch. While the film has earned praise from some critics as “jovial, zany, and sweet” (The Daily Beast), others were less kind, with The Times calling it a “mind-numbing abomination.”
Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth installment in the long-running franchise, opened to $190 million globally. Tom Cruise, who has played agent Ethan Hunt since 1996, hinted this would be his final appearance, telling the Hollywood Reporter, “It’s the final! It’s not called ‘final’ for nothing.” Still, fans remain skeptical that Cruise’s action days are truly over.
The film has received mixed but largely positive reviews, with The Guardian awarding it five stars and calling it a “wildly entertaining adventure,” while Vanity Fair hailed it as a “worthy send-off.” However, some critics were less enthusiastic; Mashable warned that the franchise risked ending with the “fizzled whimper of a message self-destructing in a tape deck.”
Together, the two blockbusters have reinvigorated the summer movie season, suggesting that despite mixed critical receptions, big-name franchises and nostalgic reboots continue to draw massive audiences.
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Slovenia has become the latest country to pull out of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, joining Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands in a widening boycott triggered by the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) decision to allow Israel to participate.
Israel was given the green light to participate in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday, after the organising body decided not to hold a vote on its inclusion, despite threats of boycotts from some countries over the Gaza conflict.
Azerbaijan cannot yet provide a timeline for the large-scale return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to extensive landmine contamination in former conflict zones, the country’s presidential representative on special assignments, Elchin Amirbayov, said on Thursday.
Russian authorities have blocked access to the Snapchat app, citing its alleged use for criminal activity in the country.
For nearly three decades following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the international system was defined by a singular, overwhelming reality: American unipolarity.
Chinese scientists have unveiled a new gene-editing therapy that they say could lead to a functional cure for HIV, making it one of the most promising developments in decades of global research.
Faced with mounting public outrage following one of the deadliest environmental disasters in the nation’s recent history, the Indonesian government has pledged to investigate and potentially shut down mining operations found to have contributed to the catastrophic flooding on Sumatra.
As the year comes to an end, a new initiative bringing civil society actors and regional analysts from Armenia and Azerbaijan together is steadily gaining ground.
Uzbekistan has reopened its border with Afghanistan for the first time since 2021, the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced on Tuesday.
In a small town on the outskirts of Warsaw, lumps of glass are transformed into dazzling holiday decorations, as Silverado, a family-owned factory in Jozefow, polishes the tradition of mouth-blown Christmas ornaments, captivating buyers across the globe and spreading festive cheer.
Israel’s participation in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be discussed on Thursday (4 December), as the organising body, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) meet in Geneva to consider whether the country can compete amid threats from some nations to withdraw over the ongoing Gaza war.
The Louvre Museum in Paris on Tuesday unveiled renovated galleries showcasing 17th and 18th-century Italian and Spanish paintings and opened its new Gallery of the Five Continents.
A Fabergé Imperial Winter Egg, commissioned by the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, as an Easter gift to his mother, sold for a record $30 million at auction on Tuesday.
A four-part docuseries executive produced by Curtis '50 cent' Jackson and directed by Alexandria Stapleton on Netflix is at the centre of controversy online.
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