Lilo & Stitch and Final Destination Prove That Hollywood’s Best Success Stories Aren’t on Streaming

On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be anything binding together Lilo & Stitch and Final Destination Bloodlines beyond both being box office hits that came out in May 2025. Believe it or not, though, both features had similar origin stories as streaming-exclusive movies. Stitch was once set to premiere on Disney+, with its upgrade to a theatrical release not getting announced until D23 back in August 2024. Bloodlines, meanwhile, was first announced as an HBO Max-exclusive movie, though that film’s shift to a theatrical bow was revealed further in advance since the film was shot with IMAX cameras.

That may seem like an incidental detail, but both titles absolutely crushing it at the box office (Stitch is on its way to becoming 2025’s current biggest movie domestically) reflect a truth Hollywood studios must reckon with: Theatrical releases are more successful than streaming original movies. Dropping movies for “free” on streamers isn’t working as a release strategy. Real success can only be found in the big screen.

Seriously, Name A Successful Streaming-Exclusive Movie

When the COVID-19 pandemic closed movie theaters in March 2020, movie studios began shifting so many genres to streaming. This was largely done to help line up the now heavily affected original programming pipelines of streamers that companies like Disney, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures were intertwined with. Blockbusters on the other hand were delayed for years on end so they could play in theaters. Original animated films and romantic comedies (among other genres), meanwhile, went straight to Disney+, Netflix, Peacock, HBO Max, and other places.

It was a bizarre move on many fronts, including how studios were following a Netflix model that wasn’t nearly as successful as that streamer’s original TV show model. House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and Stranger Things totally changed the game for how fans think of watching television. In the late 2010s, though, even a “hit” Netflix Original Movie like Bright had nowhere near the pop culture momentum as theatrical smashes from the same time like Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, and The Greatest Showman. Meanwhile, does anyone remember costly late 2010s Netflix blockbusters like 6 Underground and Red One?

The result of this procedure has been nearly five years of studios dumping titles that in all likelihood could have been big in North American theaters (e.g. The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Turning Red, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, Turtles All The Way Down, Prey, No One Will Save You, etc.) onto streamers. As a result, the consequences have been devastating. Perceptions of “comedies not playing in theaters” now fester simply because studios are less likely to target those movies for that rollout. Titles that could’ve stuck around in theaters for weeks thanks to good word-of-mouth have instead vanished into an overcrowded algorithmic digital landscape. Some streaming exclusives have even been pulled from their streaming homes altogether, making them tantamount to lost media.

[RELATED: Lilo & Stitch: All 4 Original Actors Who Returned for the Remake]

All the while, streaming or premium-video-on-demand exclusives have struggled to approximate even a fraction of the hype of theatrical releases. Even the negative online discourse surrounding Lilo & Stitch reflects this. Would all this conversation even exist if the film was unleashed as a Disney+ original you could half-heartedly watch on your phone? Being trapped in a darkened auditorium focusing just on this remake made people pay attention to elements they either disliked or loved. Good luck finding any enthusiasm (for good or ill) on any Netflix original film released in the past few years like The Gray Man or The Electric State. Case in point, the Memorial Day release on Apple TV+, The Fountain of Youth, has already vanished from public consciousness, while Stitch and Bloodlines continue to perform in theaters.

Studios Seem To Recognize This Reality About Streaming Releases

Thankfully, major studios and non-Netflix streamers seem to recognize this reality about where movies flourish in popularity. Streamer Mubi, for instance, is emphasizing theatrical-first releases for their new movies, following successful North American releases for Decision to Leave and The Substance. Meanwhile, upcoming Disney+ Original Films are limited to just Disney Channel Movies like further Descendants installments or recordings of stage productions like Frozen. No further HBO Max Original Films are on the horizon, while Peacock’s only original movie in the near future is a proposed Community movie.

Between this and numerous instances of movies like Wuthering Heights forgoing lavish Netflix deals in favor of securing theatrical releases, the future looks bright for big- screen releases. After all, would Final Destination Bloodlines and Lilo & Stitch have been nearly as popular if they just premiered as boxes on Fire TV home screens? Theatrical releases (and all the post-release lifespans of cable TV, physical media, etc.) will ensure these movies keep making money for their respective financiers. Audiences, meanwhile, will have more ways of accessing these titles than just breaking through one paywall.

It’s been clear for eons that now streaming-exclusive releases for movies don’t work. The disparity between the must-see urgency of theatrical hits like Barbie and Sinners versus how quickly Netflix titles like The Adam Project disappear already made that apparent. Lilo & Stitch and Final Destination Bloodlines becoming so massive despite originating as streaming movies clinches this reality. So much potential was almost left on the table if these productions had just dropped on streaming. Theatrical cinema isn’t going anywhere, especially after these two May 2025 cinematic juggernauts reinforced the comparatively puny might of streaming-exclusive movies.

Lilo & Stitch and Final Destination: Bloodlines are now playing in theaters.