Late January and early February has been a bit of a dry spell for major film releases, but this weekend sees the return of big blockbusters with Sony’sUnchartedreleasing exclusively in theaters, and the Thursday box office preview has given fans of the franchise hope for the future. According toDeadline, the action-adventure film, based on the popular Sony and Naughty Dog game series of the same name, has made $3.7 million in its Thursday preview.
For a film that was projected to make only $30-40 million over the long Presidents’ Day weekend earlier this week, this is pretty good, and these preview numbers may give this adaptation a chance to find more gold than previously expected. To put it in perspective other video game movies likeSonic the Hedgehog, which was a major hit and came out pre-pandemic, made $3 million in its Thursday preview. That film sped off to make $70 million over the same Presidents’ Day weekend. While it is very unlikelyUnchartedcan make those kinds of leaps and bounds, stranger things have happened, and the film has beat out other mid-February hits from the past likeKingsman: The Secret Servicewhich only made $1.5 million in its Thursday preview. That comic adaptation went on to make $41.7 million during its Presidents’ Day Weekend.
The challenge thatUnchartedis going to face is not if the film can get the number 1 spot at the box office. It will easily do that as the only other major release this weekend isChanning Tatum’sDog. That film made $1.26 million in its Thursday preview and is only expected to make around $12 million in its 4-day weekend.
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Other returning films in their second weekend likeDeath on the NileandMarry Mealso do not appear to be much of a threat for adventurer Nathan Drake. No, the real challenge for this film is how much money it can make. Because, with a $120 million reported budget, the film needs every gold doubloon it can get its hands on.Unchartedhas been getting mixed reviews to put it lightly with a 39% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it will be interesting to see how the word of mouth will affect this film. Most kids are off because of Presidents’ Day on Monday and COVID cases are down once again which can only help the film.
While it does not appearTom Hollandwill have the same box office magic twice in a row, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic because of the Thursday preview numbers. People are looking for a popcorn film filled with grand escapism any chance they get nowadays due to the dark state of the world andUnchartedmight be that next film everyone is looking towards for hope. We will just have to wait and see ifUnchartedcan become a hit, but for all the latest box office news on the film stick with Collider.
