“Uncharted,” Sony’s blockbuster video game adaptation starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, made $3.7 million in its Thursday box office previews from 3,574 locations and screenings that began at 4 p.m. It opens on approximately 4,275 screens this weekend, including IMAX and premium large format locations.
“Uncharted” is an adventure and action film based on the PlayStation video game franchise of the same name from Naughty Dog, and Sony is hoping that the star power of Tom Holland coming off the mega success of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” will translate into similar box office treasure.
Sony is projecting “Uncharted” to earn $30 million over the four-day President’s Day holiday weekend (as well as $27 million over the three-day) against a $120 million budget. For a comparison to another video game hit, “Sonic the Hedgehog” made $3 million in its previews and opened to $58 million in February 2020. For another President’s Day weekend comparison, “Alita: Battle Angel” made an opening of $33.5 million across four days after starting on a Wednesday night in 2019 with $2.4 million previews.
“Uncharted” stars Holland as Nathan Drake, who in the video games is a descendant of famed explorer Sir Francis Drake and along with his colleague Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Wahlberg) finds himself adventuring across the world in a hunt for mythical treasure and to prevent powerful ancient secrets from falling into the wrong hands.
Holland and Wahlberg in the “Uncharted” film play younger versions of their video game counterparts and work to recover a fortune amassed by Ferdinand Magellan, only to get caught in a race for the prize against the ruthless Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), who believes he and his family are the rightful heirs of the fortune. If Nate and Sully can decipher the clues and solve one of the world’s oldest mysteries, they stand to find $5 billion in treasure and perhaps even Nate’s long-lost brother
“Uncharted” is directed by Ruben Fleischer with a screenplay by Rafe Lee Judkins and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, and it also stars Sophia Ali and Tati Gabrielle.
Also opening in theaters this weekend is “Dog” starring Channing Tatum, which brought in $1.255 million in its Thursday preview screenings. The number is also inclusive of Valentine’s Day sneak preview screenings from 1,000 locations.
“Dog” is the directorial debut of Tatum and his producing partner Reid Carolin. MGM’s United Artists Releasing is releasing the buddy comedy starring Tatum and a war veteran canine named Lulu and is projecting an opening weekend of $12 million over the four day weekend. The film opens on approximately 3,667 locations across North America.
“Dog” is a heartwarming story about two former Army rangers paired together on a road trip down the Pacific Coast in order to make it to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time.