'Lilo & Stitch' Pulls Ahead of 'Minority Report' on Monday
Though Minority Report eked out a victory over the weekend by $416,913, Lilo & Stitch may win the box office war if Monday's grosses are any indication.

Stitch snatched the top spot away from Tom Cruise by easing 49.5% from Sunday to $5,108,107 on Monday, beating Minority Report's $4,507,000 by $601,000. That's enough for Stitch to move into the lead in terms of total gross as well—$40,368,319 to $40,184,000—and it's on track to end the week at No. 1—the difference likely climbing to around $2 million.

However, the rise of Stitch does not mean that Minority is necessarily on the wane. Family pictures tend to do gangbusters on summer weekdays as most kids are off from school—their Monday through Thursday tallies often ending up comparable to their following weekend sessions.

Major June animated features in recent memory from the same frame (weekend 25) have performed similarly to Stitch. Two years ago, Chicken Run dipped 50% from Sunday to $2,665,484 on Monday, while 1999's Tarzan fell 50.4% to $5,079,066 and 1998's Mulan eased 45.5% to $3,506,308. Last summer's Atlantis: The Lost Empire is the exception as it dropped 60.4% on its first Monday, although it opened on weekend 24 when fewer kids were on vacation.

Stitch gobbled up $12,335,579 on Friday at 3,191 venues, increased 4% to $12,806,637 on Saturday and slipped 21% to $10,117,996 on Sunday. By comparison, Tarzan wrangled $11.5 million on its first Friday, climbed 9% to $12.5 million on Saturday and dipped 18% to $10.2 million on Sunday for a weekend tally of $34,221,968 at 3,005 theaters. While Mulan bowed to $8 million on its first Friday, then inched up 4% to $8.3 million on Saturday and fell 23% to $6.4 million on Sunday for a weekend tally of $22,745,143 at 2,888 theaters.

Mulan's opening accounted for 19% of the $120,620,254 it amassed by the end of its run. If Stitch follows a similar course, it would wind up with $190 million. If Stitch swings like Tarzan—whose opening making up 20% of its final gross—it would close with about $175 million.