Sony projected that Uncharted would end the four-day holiday weekend with an optimistic $30 million total, generating $27 million throughout the weekend’s first three days. Video game adaptations can be a rough avenue to maneuver through for most studios, but centering the franchise around Spider-Man: No Way Home star Tom Holland gave the film a head start compared to most adaptations that came before it.
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Uncharted took two years to fully come together due to production shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, despite the financial toll, Sony continued to move forward with the film, believing in the project’s ability to attract audiences to theaters to witness the experience, which seems to have paid off. “It is Presidents’ Day in America, but we are open in most places around the world today, and we have another global triumph to celebrate,” expressed Sony’s Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman. “With over $100M in box office worldwide in just one weekend, and a 90% positive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, Uncharted is a new hit movie franchise for the company.”
“This marks a great victory for every single division of the company, as the film was our first major production entirely shut down by the advent of Covid, yet we persevered to complete a picture the audience loves and marketed and distributed it with strategic verve worldwide, despite the pandemic,” said Rothman. The film’s director, Ruben Fleischer, is hopeful for a sequel, which one can speculate will arrive soon after the opening weekend success of Uncharted. The film’s worldwide total sits at $139 million, making it the third highest-grossing film globally in 2022, behind Chinese comedy Too Cool To Kill and Chinese war/drama Water Gate Bridge.
The excitement for Uncharted is warranted, but it’s ambitious for Rothman to label the film as the company’s new “hit movie franchise” after one weekend in theaters. The box office has been a seesaw so far this year, with certain films floundering during their second theatrical weekend. For instance, the reimagined Scream franchise posted a $36 million opening, the highest opening weekend total in 2022 before Uncharted took the crown, but the film fell flat its second weekend, earning roughly $12.4 million. Uncharted may follow a different path, but Sony should tailor expectations until time proves otherwise. It’s equally important to note that the 40% Rotten Tomatoes rating from critics cannot be ignored, with some feeling that the treasure hunting adventure isn’t new and has been done better by other films in the genre.
Nonetheless, the film beat its holiday opening weekend projections, a fantastic milestone worth celebrating. Rothman later discussed in his companywide email the power of real movies and how the performance of Uncharted is yet another blow to those who have doubts in the theatrical model. Rothman ended by thanking everyone involved with the film, pointing out the creativity and dedication behind the scenes. It will be interesting to see how Sony’s new “hit movie franchise” continues to perform over the next few weekends, especially with The Batman lurking in the shadows.
Uncharted is currently playing in theaters.
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Source: Deadline
