Sony’s latest popcorn flick has passed $300 million worldwide and should finish with a theatrical run similar to ”Shazam!“
After its solid start in mid-February, there was a question among box office observers over how well Sony’s “Uncharted” would fare in theaters once Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” was released. After two weekends of direct competition, the answer is… pretty darned well.
In its first two weeks of theatrical release, with no serious blockbuster competition and support from premium formats, “Uncharted” grossed $89.2 million domestically. Then, during the first 10 days of domestic release for “The Batman” starting on March 4, “Uncharted” added approximately $25 million as it reached $114 million domestic after this past weekend and over $300 million worldwide.
While that’s nowhere near the box office success of star Tom Holland’s other big winter hit for Sony, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Uncharted” should at least match the $129 million domestic run that “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” posted late last year.
And globally, “Uncharted” is having a box office run comparable to a pre-pandemic blockbuster from another studio: Warner Bros./DC’s 2019 film “Shazam!,” which grossed $140 million domestic and $365 million worldwide against a reported $100 million budget, prompting Warner to greenlight a sequel that’s due in theaters this December.
Given that precedent, it wouldn’t be surprising for Sony to announce a sequel for “Uncharted” soon, even if though the film was not a $500 million-plus global hit. In the past year, films like Warner Bros.’ “Dune” have been approved for sequels despite falling short of that benchmark, and even 20th Century’s “Death on the Nile” has gotten a sequel despite making less than half of what its Hercule Poirot predecessor “Murder on the Orient Express” made in 2018.
Such decisions by studios have shown how box office numbers have become a smaller factor in which franchises get further investment, especially given the new need to build streaming service subscriber bases. While Sony doesn’t have its own streaming service, the studio is trying to build a stable of franchises based around the company’s hit Playstation games while seeking to extend Tom Holland’s star power as far as it can.
If younger moviegoers are embracing “Uncharted” as a fun adventure film and making it modestly profitable at a $100 million budget level, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the studio try to replicate that success — and hope that post-pandemic box office might recover even more.
“Some franchises often have slightly different paths to franchise status, and I think that’s uniquely true during the pandemic era when global box office is still in recovery mode depending on certain markets. It helps, of course, to have an IP that’s already a franchise in its own right,” Boxoffice analyst Shawn Robbins said.
“[‘Uncharted’]’s ability to avoid many front-loaded trends during its theatrical run is also a confidence builder for Sony that there’s something to potentially build on if strong stories and well-managed production budgets are prioritized for future sequels,” he added.
While there’s been no news yet on a potential “Uncharted 2,” don’t be surprised if a greenlight announcement is made during Sony’s CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas next month. That presentation is sure to be a victory lap for studio chairman Tom Rothman and motion picture group president Josh Greenstein after the two boasted that they would commit to movie theaters more than any other studio.
Sure enough, despite selling animated films like “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” and “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” to streamers last year, Sony has released four movies in the last six months — “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “Uncharted” — that have each grossed over $100 million in North America. In these still cash-strapped times for the box office, that’s a considerable feat.
Jeremy Fuster
Box Office Reporter • jeremy.fuster@thewrap.com • Twitter: @jeremyfuster