2025’sLilo & StitchandHow to Train Your Dragoncould be responsible for a major new Hollywood trend thanks to their combined box office success. Both movies are live-action remakes of iconic animated features, which is a format that became increasingly popular after Disney’s live-actionAlice in Wonderlandgrossed more than $1 billion in 2010.
Thelive-actionLilo & Stitchisa remake of the 2002 title of the same name, following orphan Lilo (Maia Kealoha) bonding with a chaotic but adorable alien genetic experiment named Stitch (Chris Sanders).
Meanwhile,How to Train Your Dragon, which isDreamWorks' first live-action remake, reimagines their 2010 movie, following young Viking Hiccup (Mason Thames) bonding with the wounded dragon Toothless in spite of his village’s determination to destroy all dragons. Both movies have so far found places in the Top 5 highest-grossing movies of 2025.
They’re Not Guaranteed Billion-Dollar Hits
While there have been quite a fewDisney live-action remakesthat have become billion-dollar hits (namely 2019’sThe Lion King, 2017’sBeauty and the Beast, and 2019’sAladdin, in addition toAlice in Wonderland), since 2020,their performance at the box office has grown considerably more spotty.
Some of this is natural. 2020’sMulanand 2021’sCruellahad underwhelming ticket sales, butboth were heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the movies that followed once theaters properly reopened have also had questionable track records. Below, see a breakdown of the performance of every theatrical Disney live-action remake between 2020 and the release ofLilo & Stitch:
$200 million
$69.9 million
$100 million
$233.5 million
$240.2 million
$569.6 million
$723 million
$270 million
$205.7 million
OnlySnow WhiteandMulanfailed to make back their budgets, but this does not mean every other movie was profitable. While the exact break-even points for these titles are unknown, many movies need to earn back two and a half times their budgets in order to turn a profit in theaters.
This makes it unlikely that the theatrical runs ofCruellaandThe Little Mermaidsaw either of those titles end up in the black, thoughtheir VOD and streaming revenue probably pushed them over the edge eventually.
How Lilo & Stitch & HTTYD Turned Live-Action Remakes' Box Office Around
Both Are Remakes Of More Contemporary Titles
While the live-action format seemed to be facing dwindling audience interest, the summer of 2025 has seenLilo & Stitchgross $952.6 million against a reported budget of $100 million at the time of writing, whileHow to Train Your Dragonhas so far grossed $471.7 million against $150 million. Collectively,they have grossed a whopping $1.4 billion.
Three [billion-dollar live-action remakes] come from the period known as the Disney Renaissance…
In addition to redeeming the box office prospects of the live-action remake format afterSnow Whitebombed, one notable aspect that linksthese two live-action remakes is the fact that both are adapting animated movies from the 21st century, as the originalLilo & Stitchcame out in 2002 whileHow to Train Your Dragondebuted in 2010.
Before 2025,the newest Disney movie that had been adapted into live-action was 1998’sMulan, with the billion-dollar titles on the roster adapting movies from 1951 (Alice in Wonderland), 1991 (Beauty and the Beast), 1992 (Aladdin), and 1994 (The Lion King).
The latter three all come from the period known as the Disney Renaissance, though their fellow Renaissance titleThe Little Mermaidclearly did not perform at the same level,potentially indicating an overall diminishment in audience interest in that period.
The fact that two different studios have experimented with live-action remakes of much more recent titlescould show that the interest of general audiences is drifting toward the cinema of the 2000s and the early 2010s.
More Recent Animated Movies Will Likely Get Live-Action Remakes Soon
Multiple Of Such Remakes Are Already On Their Way
This trend of reimagining more recent animated features is already set to continue. In fact, the next outing from Disney will be thelive-actionMoanaremake, which is set to debut in 2026,just 10 years after the original animated movie hit theaters.
Additionally,both of 2025’s hit live-action remakes have had sequels greenlit. While theupcomingLilo & Stitch 2may not be a direct adaptation of any previous installment in the franchise,How to Train Your Dragonis set to adapt the story of the original animated movie of the same name, which debuted just 11 years ago, in 2014.
It seems likely that the box office success ofLilo & StitchandHow to Train Your Dragonin favor of remakes of older titles will already be sparking a trend of remakes of post-2000 animated titles, but if those three upcoming titles perform similarly,the trend could become a full-on flood of similar titles.
Which Recent Animated Movies Would Be Best Suited For A Remake?
Some Titles Are Better Fits Than Others
While both hit 2025 remakes feature a major character that is entirely a CGI creation,the majority of their casts are made up of real live-action humans. It makes sense that similar titles with primarily human characters would be the best fit for the live-action treatment, to keep budgets from ballooning.
This limits DreamWorks somewhat, because their most popular franchises, includingShrek,Kung Fu Panda, andMadagascar, are populated with either anthropomorphic animals or fantasy creatures. However,1998’sThe Prince of Egyptand 2000’sThe Road to El Doradocould potentially fit the formatwell.
The Road to El Doradowas a theatrical disappointment, but later became a cult classic.
Meanwhile, Disney has several animated titles in their library that could be natural follow-ups toLilo & StitchandHow to Train Your Dragon. These include 2009’sThe Princess and the Frogand 2013’sFrozen. 2010’sTangledis also an option, but that remake was previously in development and was scrapped in the wake ofSnow White’s disappointing box office.
