Disney’s live-action Lilo and Stitch remake and Tom Cruise’s supposedly final Mission: Impossible outing have opened as two of the biggest films of the year in a record-breaking weekend at the box office.

Lilo and Stitch, which revisits the 2002 animated family favourite, exceeded expectations with takings of $341m (£252m) around the world.

That made it the second highest opening of 2025 so far after A Minecraft Movie, Variety reported, and broke the record for the Memorial Day weekend in the US.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth film in the franchise, also proved a hit with $190m (£140m) in ticket sales.

Cruise has been playing agent Ethan Hunt since 1996, and seemingly confirmed The Final Reckoning would be the last instalment by telling the Hollywood Reporter: “It’s the final! It’s not called ‘final’ for nothing.”

But some have doubts about whether it will really turn out to be the end.

The blockbuster has had some rave reviews, with the Guardian calling it a “wildly entertaining adventure” in a five-star review, and Vanity Fair describing it as “a worthy send-off”.

However, not everyone was blown away, with the Hollywood Reporter saying it’s “a disappointing farewell”, and Mashable saying the series risked going out with the “fizzled whimper of a message self-destructing in a tape deck”.

Meanwhile, Lilo and Stitch is the latest in a long line of live-action remakes of beloved Disney animations, and achieved the third-best box office opening behind 2019’s The Lion King and 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, Variety said.

The new version stars Courtney B Vance and Zach Galifianakis alongside eight-year-old Maia Kealoha and a computer-generated cuddly runaway alien.

It has also had mixed reviews, being described as “jovial, zany, and sweet” by the Daily Beast, but a “mind-numbing abomination” by the Times.

(BBC News)

Veteran Actress Malini Fonseka, widely revered as the “Queen of Sri Lankan Cinema,” passed away this morning (May 24) at the age of 78 while receiving treatment at a private hospital in Colombo.

Born on April 30, 1947, in Kelaniya as Wanni Arachchige Malani Senehelatha Fonseka, she later rose to fame in Sri Lankan cinema under the name Malani Fonseka.

Fonseka began her acting career on stage in 1963 and made her cinematic debut in 1968 with the film Punchi Baba.

She won the Most Popular Actress award in 1973 and has received numerous accolades, including the President’s Award, Sarasavi Award, OCIC Award, and Sumathi Award, with several honors for Best Actress.

Plays such as Nidhanaya, Bambaru Awitha, Wekande Walawwa, Aradhana, and Ammawarune are regarded as outstanding works that showcased the acting talents of Malani Fonseka.

Beyond her artistic achievements, she entered politics in 2010 and served as a National List Member of Parliament until 2015.

Anudi Gunasekara has been selected into the Top 5 from Asia in the Head-to-Head Challenge at the 72nd Miss World pageant.

She is the first Sri Lankan to reach the finalist stage in this segment.

She has also set another milestone by becoming the only contestant from Asia to qualify as a finalist in both the Head-to-Head and Talent rounds this year.