Box Office: ‘Uncharted’ Tops $225 Million As ‘Sing 2’ Passes $350 Million Worldwide

In holdover news for the weekend, Sony’s Uncharted earned $23.5 million in weekend two, dropping just 46%. That is a terrific hold for the Tom Holland/Mark Wahlberg video game adaptation, just below Black Panther (-44% after a $202 million Fri-Sun/$242 million Fri-Mon debut) and above the likes of The Kingsman: The Secret Service (-49% after a $36 million/$42 million debut), Deadpool (-56%) and Alita: Battle Angel (-57%). Its $83.4 million ten-day total assures its place among the bigger-grossing video game movies, yes even accounting for inflation. If, and this is a big “if,” it plays like Kingsman or Black Panther going forward, we’re looking at a $142 million-$155 million cume. The $120 million franchise-starter has already earned $226 million worldwide, again putting it for a $350 million-plus finish plus whatever it earns in China beginning March 14.  

We may see a big drop next weekend against The Batman but then a leveling as the marketplace becomes a two-film economy. That goes double if Matt Reeves’ 175-minute, grimdark melodrama doesn’t quite fit the bill in terms of kid-friendly, group consensus moviegoing. Regardless, and it’s not like kids were turned off by Chris Nolan’s darker Dark Knight sequels, Uncharted is going to be the easy “second choice” pick at least until Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s own comedic jungle adventure The Lost City opens on March 25. Sony absolutely has a new franchise on their hands, albeit one that may be predicted on how they can get Holland back without ballooning the budget. What a strange situation to be in where Sony, Paramount and MGM are the studios keeping the box office afloat.  

Channing Tatum’s Dog once again prevented Tom Holland from owning the top two spots in the domestic box office charts. The well-liked and well-received MGM release earned another $10.13 million (-32%) weekend. That’s a terrific 3.6x weekend multiplier, implying strong business from kids and families on Saturday and Sunday. Honestly, in this grim environment for studio programmers both before and during Covid, I would have applauded Dog *opening* with $10 million, so this is another feather in MGM’s cap. Anyway, the $15 million military melodrama will have $29.3 million domestic by tomorrow, with a possible domestic finish of around $50 million. This must have Paramount feeling a little more optimistic about The Lost City (whose trailer plays well with general audiences) when the old-school star vehicle opens March 25. I’m certainly starting to hope.  

In other Tom Holland news, Sony announced a March 22 VOD release (and April 12 physical media release) for Spider-Man: No Way Home last week, having given the film a conventional pre-Covid sized theatrical window. The MCU sequel earned another $5.75 million (-23%) over the weekend. That gives Spider-Man 3 version 2.0 a $779.9 million cume, putting it above the inflation-adjusted lifetime total of Fantasia ($778 million including copious reissues). It has earned the eighth-biggest 11th weekend ever (not counting platform releases). It may just (very slowly) crawl over $800 million. The superhero sequel has already tripled its $260 million debut weekend. It has earned $1.85 billion worldwide, passing the initial $1.84 billion theatrical run (in 1997/1998) of Titanic. Barring a fluke in either direction, it’s looking at a $1.88 billion finish without a penny from China. 

Death on the Nile earned just $4.5 million (-31%) in weekend three for a $32.8 million 17-day total. It’s doing better overseas, with $68.5 million foreign for a $101.3 million global cume. This is still a tragedy for Kenneth Branagh’s $90 million Hercule Poirot flick. Its failure to attract older moviegoers could be why STX delayed Guy Ritchie’s Jason Statham/Aubrey Plaza action-comedy Operation Fortune. It’s one of the scarier whiffs of the pandemic era, as a superior sequel to a well-liked predecessor which earned $355 million worldwide should have earned around $275 million even with an expected sequel drop-off.  Jackass Forever earned $3.175 million (-39%) in weekend four for a $52 million 24-day total. We’re a long way from Jackass 3-D opening with $50 million, but it’s still a solid result for a $10 million release. 

I’m presuming Universal’s Marry Me has accounted for its $23 million budget from whatever it got from Peacock. The Jennifer Lopez/Owen Wilson rom-com will earn $1.85 million (-55%) in weekend three for a still underwhelming $20.2 million 17-day total. In better Universal news, Sing 2 crossed $150 million domestic and $350 million worldwide despite being available on VOD for most of its theatrical run. It’ll end up close to The Secret Life of Pets 2 ($160 million/$430 million in 2019). Wall Street delusions aside, Disney is leaving money on the table by shifting Turning Red to Disney+. Scream will earn $1.2 million (-38%) in weekend seven for a $79 million cume. Its $137 million worldwide cume puts it above Halloween Kills ($131 million) among R-rated slasher sequels, so that’s a solid win for the $24 million Paramount flick.