Memorial Day weekend is the official start of summer when it comes to Hollywood blockbuster openings, and as a result, it has crowned several big-time releases throughout the years. In 2026, the big release is The Mandalorian & Grogu. The new Star Wars movie fell short of breaking into the top 10 for the huge holiday weekend, despite breaking weekend expectations and making an unexpected $102 million, which was 30% higher than original box office projections. However, it still missed the number 10 spot by just over $1 million.
The thing to note about the Memorial Day weekend is that the holiday always falls on a Monday, so these totals are for four days, while normal weekend totals are for three days. Even with the higher numbers for The Mandalorian & Grogu, it is still a step back, since three of the last four years have seen movies break into the top 10, with titles like Top Gun: Maverick (2022), The Little Mermaid (2023), and Lilo & Stitch (2025) all major hits, debuting over the holiday weekend. It was just one year ago that the live-action remake Lilo & Stitch stunned audiences with its monstrous take.
Each of the movies in the top 10 had a specific reason why audiences chose to flock to see them over any other option at the time. In some cases, they were sequels to beloved hits, and in others, they resurrected an older franchise for the first time in years. Other reasons, including popular franchises, have allowed these movies to hit box office numbers unlike any other opening. All Memorial Day box office numbers are sourced from Box Office Mojo.
10 The Hangover Part II (2011) - $103.4 million
Todd Phillips returned for his second movie in The Hangover franchise, and after the first movie ended up as the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time, beating out Beverly Hills Cop, the gang was all back for the sequel. The Hangover Part II brought back Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, and Justin Bartha for a story that follows Stu as he travels to Thailand for his wedding. Once again, the friends wake up with no memory of the night before, and this time, Stu's brother-in-law is missing.
The movie opened with $103.4 million for the four-day 2011 Memorial Day weekend, and it finished with another strong outing for the franchise. The final numbers by the end were $254.5 million domestic and $586.8 million worldwide. This was the widest R-rated opening ever, spurred on by the success of the original, which also helped account for its box office success.
9 X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014) - $110.6 million
X-Men: Days of Future Past is the highest-rated movie in the X-Men prequel series at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it is one of two X-Men movies in the Memorial Day weekend top 10. Directed by Bryan Singer, who made his return to the franchise for the first time since X2, the film brought together the stars from the original X-Men trilogy and had them appear alongside the prequel X-Men actors, with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine the one tying the two versions of the team together.
This X-Men movie made $90.8 million on its three-day weekend and finished with a $110.5 million four-day Memorial Day weekend. The biggest reason for its success is the return of the original X-Men, including Jackman, James McAvoy, Ian McKellen, and Patrick Stewart. With Singer also back after making the first two X-Men movies, this was as much for nostalgia as it was for the story.
8 Aladdin (2019) - $116.8 million
Aladdin is a live-action remake of the classic Disney animated movie, which itself is based on the classic One Thousand and One Nights. Guy Ritchie directed the movie, with Will Smith taking on the role of the Genie, a character originally voiced by Robin Williams in the animated film. The story has Aladdin finding the lamp, Jafar attempting to seize power, and the Genie granting Aladdin his three wishes.
The movie had a huge Memorial Day opening weekend, making $91.5 million over the first three days, and then having a massive Memorial Day itself, with a $116.8 million finish. The biggest draw here was seeing Will Smith as the Genie, and the idea of Disney's live-action remakes of animated movies was still at its commercial peak.
7 Fast & Furious 6 (2013) - $117.0 million
In 2013, Justin Lin directed Fast & Furious 6, and this movie was a massive success thanks in large part to Fast Five rewriting what the franchise was all about. Instead of the street racing and heists, the movie franchise turned into an almost street racing, superhero, spy genre mashup, and this sixth movie was the first after that big reset. It ended up making $117 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend.
This movie continued to bring back beloved characters, as the post-credits scene from Fast Five reveals that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is still alive, and this film brings her back to Dom (Vin Diesel). Fast & Furious 6 finished with a monstrous $788.7 million worldwide box office, and the next movie in the series finally broke the $1 billion mark.
6 The Little Mermaid (2023) - $118.8 million
The Little Mermaid was another live-action Disney remake of an animated movie that released on Memorial Day weekend. Directed by Rob Marshall, Halle Bailey stars as Ariel, and Melissa McCarthy turned in an award-worthy performance as Ursula in the story of a mermaid making a bargain to become human so she can find true love on land. The casting of Bailey was controversial at first in some sectors, but her incredible singing voice showed she deserved the role.
The Little Mermaid proved that Disney could rule the big holiday weekends, and the family-friendly story and the great singing performances really helped the movie find success. It finished with $118.8 million over its four-day weekend, and with a high CinemaScore of an A, it was a movie that had legs. The Little Mermaid finished with $569.6 million worldwide.
5 X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) - $122.8 million
One of the worst critically reviewed X-Men movies is also one of the biggest Memorial Day weekend takes in history. X-Men: The Last Stand had a big promotional push behind it, as it followed the critically acclaimed X2, and it promised to tell the famous Dark Phoenix storyline, with Famke Janssen's Jean Grey making her turn to evil. However, with Bryan Singer leaving the franchise and Brett Ratner directing a more action-packed movie rather than the thematically deeper Singer stories, it ended up disappointing critics.
Regardless, its opening weekend was huge, after the last two movies' success. It had an impressive $102.7 million three-day weekend and finished with $122.8 million for the four-day weekend. However, poor reviews and low audience reactions caused the film to falter, and it only finished with a total of $234.4 million domestically and $459.4 million worldwide.
4 Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008) - $126.9 million
Similar to X-Men: The Last Stand, the 2008 release, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was another film that had a huge opening Memorial Day weekend, thanks to the past movies in the franchise. Steven Spielberg was back as the director, and Harrison Ford was back as Indiana Jones, and the movie ended up a big opening weekend success story, making $126.9 million over the four days.
The film did well overall at the box office, making $786.6 million worldwide, the highest-grossing movie in the Indiana Jones franchise. It had been 19 years since Indiana Jones had been on the big screen in The Last Crusade, but its attempts at creating a new era for the franchise, with Shia LaBeouf as Indy's son, didn't pan out.
3 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) - $139.8 million
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End had a lot going for it when it arrived in theaters in 2007. This was the final movie in the original trilogy, with Gore Verbinski back as the director, finishing off his story. The main cast of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley was joined by the returning Geoffrey Rush, Bill Nighy as Davy Jones, and Chow Yun-fat.
The Memorial Day box office weekend was impressive, with $114.7 million over the first three days, and a total of $139.8 million after Memorial Day itself. Since this was advertised as the conclusion of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, it brought in audiences who wanted to see how it would reconcile Jack's death from the last movie. It was also released in a then-record 4,362 theaters.
2 Top Gun: Maverick (2022) - $160.5 million
In 2022, Tom Cruise returned with a sequel to Top Gun, 36 years after the original movie was released in theaters. Top Gun: Maverick stars Cruise as Maverick, now called back to TOPGUN to train a new elite squad, one of which is his former partner Goose's grown son Rooster (Miles Teller). With Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, and Glen Powell joining the cast, along with Val Kilmer in his final film role, the film was an instant success.
Top Gun: Maverick ended up with a $126.7 million three-day weekend, a number higher than most four-day weekends in the top 10 for Memorial Day. It finished with $160.5 million and went on to make $1.495 billion worldwide. Not only was nostalgia a big part of the box office totals, but Cruise was on a save-the-theaters press tour, trying to get people back to the movies after the pandemic lockdowns.
1 Lilo & Stitch (2025) - $182.6 million
The biggest Memorial Day opening weekend in history came in 2025 with the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch. Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, the film has Stitch and several aliens as CGI creations, with the main human cast as real actors. Maia Kealoha received critical acclaim for her role as Lilo, and the movie was a huge success.
The movie opened with a $145.5 million three-day weekend, which was higher than every other movie's three-day totals, except for Top Gun: Maverick. It went on to finish with $182.6 million for the four-day weekend, and finished its run with a worldwide take of $1.038 billion. It had been 23 years since Stitch became an animated mascot for Disney, and having the family-friendly movie arrive on a holiday weekend was perfect for its success.
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