Mere months after Tom Holland ignited box office charts with “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the 25-year-old British actor is swinging back to movie theater marquees with “Uncharted.”
Ahead of its domestic debut on Feb. 18, Sony’s big-screen adaptation of its popular video game series opened at the international box office to a solid $21.5 million from 15 overseas markets.
“Uncharted” had the biggest start in the United Kingdom, landing in first place with $6.4 million. The movie also touched down in Spain with $3.5 million, Russia with $4.5 million and Ukraine with $1.3 million. In the Middle East, “Uncharted” collected $4 million, including $1.3 million from Saudi Arabia and $1.2 million from the United Arab Emirates. Compared to pandemic-era blockbusters, “Uncharted” is tracking 12% above “Eternals,” 18% above “Black Widow” and 21% higher than “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” at similar points in their theatrical rollouts.
Along with the U.S. and Canada, the film opens next week in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico and South Korea. It carries a $120 million price tag.
“Uncharted,” in which Holland stars as dashing treasure hunter Nathan Drake, will be a huge (and important) test of the actor’s big-screen appeal out of his alter ego as Spider-Man. Movies based on video games tend to be hit-or-miss at the box office, so Holland is going to be key in the success or disappointment of “Uncharted.” Fresh off “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which recently crossed $1.8 billion at the global box office, Holland has begot plenty of good-will from audiences. And, if you look up “charm offensive” in the dictionary, there may or may not be a picture of Holland’s face. He’s hoping to draw audiences at a time when movie theater attendance has been spotty at best for anything that doesn’t involve Marvel superheroes.
Directed by Ruben Fleischer (“Venom”), the globe-trotting “Uncharted” follows Nathan Drake and his wisecracking partner Sully (Mark Wahlberg) as they embark on a death-defying quest to uncover the greatest treasure never found. Complicating matters, the fearless explorers are racing against two baddies (played by Antonio Banderas and Tati Gabrielle) to locate the fabled fortunes. Think “Indiana Jones,” but as a zoomer.
Elsewhere at the international box office, several Hollywood movies, including “Death on the Nile” and “Marry Me,” opened to varying degrees of success (by COVID-19 standards).
Director Kenneth Branagh’s “Death on the Nile,” a star-studded murder mystery from Disney and 20th Century Studios, earned $20.7 million from 47 overseas territories. Top markets were Russia ($2.5 million), the United Kingdom ($2.4 million) and Italy ($2.1 million). In North America, “Death on the Nile” debuted at No. 1 with $12.8 million for a global tally of $33.5 million. Since the whodunit — which follows renowned detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh) as he attempts to solve a murder aboard a glamorous river cruise in Egypt — cost $90 million to produce, “Death on the Nile” has a rocky voyage to profitability and will heavily rely on international ticket sales to get out of the red.
Universal’s romantic comedy “Marry Me,” starring Jennifer Lopez as a musical superstar who weds a total stranger (played by Owen Wilson) at her concert, collected a paltry $8.5 million from 65 foreign markets. Combined with its $8 million start at the domestic box office, “Marry Me” has generated $16.5 million worldwide to date. Though it’s not a great start, the movie carries a $23 million price tag, so it shouldn’t have too much trouble at least breaking even.